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THE  IRISH 

« 

Ecclesiastical  Record 


^  JHontljIg  Journal,  uttlier  (IHpiscopal  Sanction 


VOLUME  XV. 
JANUARY  TO  JUNE,  1904 


j^ourti)  Series 


DUBLIN 

BROWNE  &  NOLAN,  LIMITED,  NASSAU-STREET 

1904 

ALL  RIGHTS  RESERVED 


i 


Nihil  Obstat. 


GiRALDUS  MOLLOY,  S.T.D., 

CENSOR  DEP. 


Smprimatur, 

*  GULIBLMUS, 

Arehiep.  Dublin.,  Hiberniae  I) 


BROWNB  AND  NOLAN,  LTD.,  NABSAU-eXRKET,  DUBLIN. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


PAGK 

Apostolic  Union  of  Secular  Priests  and  Pius  X.    By  Rev.  James 

Busher,  m.ss.         .......  535 

Bibliotheca  Alphonsiana.    By  Kev.  J.  Magnier,  c.ss.r.  -  -  419 

Bossuet,  the  Centenary  of.    By  Very  Rev.  P.  Boyle,  cm.      -  -  315,  402 

Case  of  Ireland  against   the  Science  and  Art  Department.  By 

George  F.  Fleming  -  -  -  -  -  -128 

Catholic  Religion,  A  Parody  of  the.  By  Rev.  Francis  Woodlock,  s.j.  114 
Code  of  Pius  X.    By  Right  Rev.  Mgr.  P.  O'Kelly,  d.d.         -  -  .  511 

Correspondence:— 

Altar  Stones  without  Relics  -         -         -         -  - 

Altar  Wine  -         ....        v.  . 

Educated  Laity  in  Parochial  Associations  -         -         -  . 

Dawn  of  the  Century.     By    Very  Rev.  P.  A.  Canon  Sheehan, 
D.D.,  p.p. 

Definition  of  the  Immaculate  Conception,    By  Right  Rev.  Mgr. 

Hallinan,  p.p.,  v.g.  - 
Dr.  McDonald's  '  Principles  of  Moral  Science.'    By  Rev.  T.  Slater, 

S.J.  --------- 


documents  :— 

Allocution  of  His  Holiness  Pope  Pius  X.  -          -          -          -  81 

Apostolic  Union  of  Secular  Priests  praised  by  Pope  Pius  X.      -  460 

Apostolic  Visitation  of  Roman  Churches            -         .         -  jgg 

Catholic  Truth  Society  of  Ireland,  Indulgences  for  the   -         -  556 

Decree  on  Restoration  of  Sacred  Music    -         -         -         -  266 

Decrees  of  the  Sacred  Congregation  of  the  Index  -  -  183 
Encyclical  Letter  of  His  Holiness  Pope  PiusX.  on  the  Thirteenth 

Centenary  of  St.  Gregory  the  Great  -  -  -  -  443 
Encyclical  Letter  of  His  Holiness  Pope  Pius  X,  on  the  Jubilee  of 

the  Immaculate  Conception    -         -         .          .         .  364 

Immaculate  Conception,  Jubilee  of          .         .         .         .  265 

Indulgence  for  Little  Office  of  the  Blessed  Virgin           -          -  182 

Institute  of  Charity,  Letter  of  Pope  Pius  X.  to  the  General  of  the  556 

Instruction  on  Sacred  Music  -  .  .  .  .  163 
Masses  for  the  Dead  and  Singing  of  Gospel,  distribution  of  Holy 

Communion  :  Solution  of  Questions  regarding          -          -  570 

Mohi  Propria  of  Pope  Pius  X.  on  Catholic  Action  -  -  175 
Moiu  Propria  of  Pope  Pius  X.  on  the  Appointment  of  Italian 

Bishops  280 

Motu  Propria  of  Pope  Pius  X.  on  Sacred  Music  -         -         -  161 


264 
78 
555 


5 

494 
385 


vi 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


FAGB 

Documents — continued. 

Office  and  Mass  for  Feast  of  all  the  Saints  of  the  Society  of 

Jesus  267 

Offices  for  Irish  Patron  Saints      .         -         ...  80 

Privileges  of  Apostolic  Protonotaries       ...         -  471 

Privileges  of  the  Priests  who  attended  the  Conclave       -          -  464 

Papal  Letter  to  Cardinal-Vicar  of  Rome  on  Church  Music        -  170 

Pope  Leo  XIII.  and  the  proposed  Catholic  University  of  Austria  568 

Pope  Pius  X.  and  the  Cecilia  Society       ....  180 

Roman  Churches,  Faculties  for  the  Visitation  of  -          -          -  560 

Sacred  Heart,  Little  Office  of        -         -         .         -         -  469 

Validity  of  Rescripts  of  the  Holy  See       ....  181 

Education,  Technical :  Some  Queries  and  Replies.    By  Rev.  P.  J. 

Dowling,  CM.  412 

Franciscan  Families,  The.  By  Montgomery  Carmichael  -  -  235 
French  Revolution,  The  Irish  College  in  Paris  during  the.    By  Very 

Rev.  P.  Boyle,  cm.  -         -         -         -         -          -         -  48 

Higher  Criticism,  Rise  and  Progress  of.    By  Rev.  Reginald  Walsh, 

CP.  27 
Immaculate  Conception,  The  Definition  of  the.  By  Right  Rev,  Mgr. 

Hallinan,  p.p.,  v.g.  494 
Inishowan,  A  Martyr  for  the  Faith  in.  By  Most  Rev.  Dr.  O'Doherty, 

Bishop  of  Derry      -          -          -          -          -          -          -  481 

Irish  College  in  Paris  during  the  French  Revolution.    By  Very  Rev. 

P.  Boyle,  CM.         ...          -          ■          -          -  48 

Irish  Hierarchy's  Address  to  Pope  Pius  X.  and  His  Holiness's  Reply  i 
Martyr  for  the  Faith  in  Inishowen.    By  Most  Rev.  Dr.  O'Doherty, 

Bishop  of  Derry     -          -          -          -          -          -          -  481 

'  Moral  Science,  Principles  of,'  Dr.  McDonald's.      By  Rev.  T. 

Slater,  s.j.    --------  385 

'  Moral  Science,  Principles  of.'    By  Rev.  Walter  McDonald,  d.d.     -  520 

motes  anD  (Stuedes:— 

Liturgy  (By  Rev.  Patrick  Morrisroe)  : — 
Altar  Stones  without  Relics  ....  -  157,  384 

Baptismal  Font,  Blessing  of,  on  Holy  Saturday    -          -          -  361 

Calendar  to  be  followed  where  an  Order  exercises  Chaplaincy    -  553 

Custom  regarding  St.  John's  Gospel         ...         -  158 

Decrees  of  the  Sacred  Congregation  of  Rites       -          -          -  74 

Faculties  of  Bishops  to  Grant  Indulgences          -          -          -  '55  ! 

Interment,  Rite  of,  in  Particular  Cases     -          -          -          -  260 

Jubilee  of  Definition  of  Immaculate  Conception  -          -          -  74 
Mass  de  Communi,  Saying  of,  when  prol^er  is  wanting ;  whether 

Voiive  is  lawful  in  case           ....          -  550 

Notes  on  Decrees  of  Sacred  Congregation  of  Rites         -         -  76 

Old  Roman  Stational  Mass,  The    -----  440 

PaU'onus  Loci,  Commemoration  of           .         .         -         -  158 


! 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS  Vll 


Notes  and  Queries — continued. 

Preface  to  be  said  in  Votive  Masses  during  Octaves 
Reverences  at  mention  of  Saint's  Name    -         -         .  - 
Stational  Mass,  The  Old  Roman    -  .  .  .  . 

St.  John's  Gospel,  Custom  regarding  .... 

Varia  Dubia  ....... 

Votive  Mass  of  the  Immaculate  Conception.    May  it  be  said  on 
June  8th? 

Theology  (By  Rev.  J.  M.  Harty)  :  — 
A  Matrimonial  Case 

Curates,  Power  of,  to  assist  validly  at  Marriages  - 
Domicile,  when  Gained  and  Lost  -         .         -  . 

Jubilee  of  the  Immaculate  Conception     -  - 
Jubilee,  The — Use  of  Probable  Opinions  -  -         -  - 

Obligation  of  Travellers  to  Observe  Saturday  Abstinence 
Pious  Bequests,  Validity  of  -         .         ,  . 

Privileges  of  the  Jubilee 

Saturday  Abstinence,  Obligation  of  Travellers  to  Observe  the  - 
Validity  of  Pious  Bequest  -         -         -         .  - 

motlces  of  Boofte:— 

A  History  of  Modern  England,  283  ;  A  Manual  of  Mystical 
Theology,  378 ;  Aphorismi  Eucharisdci,  287 ;  Beginnings  of 
Christianity,  94  ;  Christian  Apologetics,  186  ;  Das  Rosenkranz- 
gebet,  384  ;  Die  deutschen  Dominikaner  im  Kampfegegen 
Luther,  576  ;  Editio  Solesmensis,  473  ;  Geachichte  der  Altkirch- 
lichen  Literatur,  93  ;  Gospels  of  the  Sundays  and  Festivals,  285  ; 
Hebrew  and  English  Lexicon  of  the  Old  Testament,  Sg  ;  Histoire 
des  Livres  du  Nouveau  Testament,  igi  ■  Histoire  de  I'Ancien 
Testament,  192  ;  History  of  Ireland,  91 ;  In  Paths  of  Peace, 
287;  Ireland's  Renaissance,  571  ;  Lex  Orandi,  187;  Monasteries 
and  Religious  Houses  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  288  ;  Mystical 
Theology,  Manual  of,  378  ;  O'Growney  Memorial  Volume,  574  ; 
Pentateuchfrage,  185 ;  Poems  of  James  Clarence  Mangan,  383  ; 
Salvage  from  the  Wreck,  382  ;  Sermon  Plans,  480  ;  Schriften  und 
Einrichtungen  zur  Bildung  der  Geistlichen,  380  ;  St.  Cuthbert's, 
96;  Sti  Alphonsi  Mariae  de  Liguorio  Opera  Dogmatica,  189; 
Studies  in  the  Gospels,  86  ;  The  Friars,  and  how  They  came 
to  England,  380 ;  The  Blessed  Virgin  in  the  Nineteenth  Century, 
90 ;  The  Life  and  Pontificate  of  Pope  Leo  XIII.,  95 ;  The 
Principles  of  Moral  Science,  377  ;  The  Shakspeare  Enigma, 
382;  The  Squire's  Grand-daughters,  381  ;  Youthful  Verses,  191. 

Origin  of  the  Scapular.  By  Rev.  Benedict  Zimmerman,  o.c.d.  142,  206,  331 
Parody  of  the  Catholic  Religion,  A.  By  Rev.  Francis  Woodlock,  s.j.  114 
Pastoral  Office,  St.  Chry.so.stom  on  the.  By  Rev.  T.  P.  Gilmartin  -  193 
Pius  X.  and  the  Apostolic  Union  of  Secular  Priests,    By  Rev.  James 

Busher,  m.ss,  c,c 


74 

75 
440 
158 

154 
552 


255 
357 
255 
352,436 
547 
549 
257 
435 
549 
257 


VIU 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Pius  X.'s  Reply  to  the  Address  of  the  Irish  Hierarchy  -  -  i 
Pius  X.,  The  Code  ot.    By  Right  Rev.  Mgr.  P.  O'Kelly,  d.d.  -  511 

'  Principles  of  Moral  Science.'  By  Rev.  Walter  McDonald,  d.d.  -  520 
Rise  and  Progress  of  Higher  Criticism.    By  Rev.  Reginald  Walsh, 

CP.     .........  ■2.'] 

Scapular,  The  Origin  of  the.    By  Rev.  Benedict  Zimmerman,  o.c.d.  142, 

206,  331 

Schism,  The  Great  Western.  By  Rev.  James  McCaffrey,  s.t.l.  -  97 
Science  and  Art  Department,  Case  of  Ireland  against  the.  By 

George  F.  Fleming  -  -  -  -  -  -128 

Sir  Horace  Plunkett's  Lecture.  By  Rev.  J.  F.  Hogan,  d.d.  -  -  289 
St.  Chrysostom  on  the  Pastoral  Office.  By  Rev.  T.  P.  Gilmartin  -  193 
Technical  Education  :  Some  Queries  and  Replies.    By  Rev.  P.  J. 

Dovvling,  CM.  412 
Western  Schism,  The  Great.    By  Rev.  James  McCaffrey,  s.t.l.      -  97 


\ 


* 


REPLY  OF  HIS   HOLINESS   POPE   PIUS  X.  TO 
THE  ADDRESS  OF  THE  IRISH  HIERARCHY 

DiLECTO  FiLIO  NOSTRO  MiCHAELI  TiT.  S.  MaRIA  DE  PACE 

S.R.E.  Presb.Card.  Logue,  Archiepiscopo  Armacano, 
Ceterisque  Venerabilibus  Fratribus  Archiepis- 
copis  ET  Episcopis  Hibernensibus 

PIUS  PP.  X. 

DILECTE  FiLi  Noster,  Salutem  et  Aposto- 
LiCAM  Benedictionem.  Solemne  pietatis  officium 
quod  Hibernenses  sacrorum  antistites  Te,  dilecte 
Fili  Noster,  praeeunte  in  Nos  ob  nuper  delates 
summi  pontificatus  honores  edere  voluerunt,  effusi  gaudii 
Nobis  attulit  causam.  Porro  istius  gentis  memoriam 
ultimam  repetentes  resque  pari  consilio  et  felicitate  ad 
religionis  bonum  ab  ea  olim  gestas  considerantes,  facere  non 
possumus  quin  singulare  latemur  obsequium  erga  banc 
Apostolicam  Sedem  animis  vestris  alte  impressum  et  his 
temporibus  Catholicae  virtuti  infensis,  magis  magisque 
firmatum.  Singulare  obsequium  diximus,  Hibernensibus 
majorum  traditione  inditum  ac  semper  ad  commune  decus 
enixe  custoditum  :  ex  quo  illud  prospere  factum  est  ut 
eorum  insula,  S.  Patritii  Apostolicis  exculta  laboribus  et 
sudore  irrigata,  alma  sanctorum  virorum  parens  et  altrix 
appellari  meruerit.  Quo  majori  gratulatione  igitur  com- 
munes litteras  vestras  accepimus,  eo  libentius  prolixiusque 
mutuae   benevolentiae   Nostr^e  rependimus  sensus,  quibus 

FOURTH   SERIES,  VOL.   XV.  JANUARY,   I9O4.  A 


THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


omnes  in  Christo  complexi,  coelestium  munerum  auspicem 
et  Vobis  et  gregi  curis  vestris  concredito  Benedictionem 
Apostolicam  amantissime  impertimur. 

Datum  Romse  apud  Sanctum  Petrum  die  XVI. 
Novembris,  MCMIII.,    Pontificatus  Nostri  anno  primo. 

PIUS  PP.  X. 

The  following  is  the  text  of  the  Address  of  the  Irish 
Hierarchy  : — 

PIO  PP.  X. 

Beatissime  Pater, — Majorum  nostrorum  vestigiis 
inhserentes,  Nos,  Hiberniae  Archiepiscopi  et  Episcopi, 
unacum  Clero  nostro  universo,  et  devotis  gregibus  nostris, 
ad  pedes  B.T.  provoluti,  pignora  nostrae  fidelitatis, 
observantiae  et  obsequii  in  S.  Sedem  ;  solemniter  et  ex 
corde  renovamus. 

Mirum  quidem  est  quam  suaviter  et  fortiter,  a  fine  usque 
ad  finem  pertingens,  Deus  et  Domnius  noster  vicissitudines 
hujus  vitse  terrestris  misericorditer  disponit.  Ingens  enim 
ilia  lamentatio  per  orbem  terrarum  exorta  in  morte  gloriosi 
Praedecessoris  Tui,  Leonis  XIII.,  sanctae  et  imperiturae 
memoriae,  cito  convertitur  in  gaudium  ineffabile  vix  ac 
proclamatio  ilia  saecularis — '  Habemus  Pontificem,'  — 
gentes  certiores  fecerat,  quod  Proceres  Ecclesiae,  afflante 
Spiritu  Sancto,  Te,  B.P.  in  primam  sedem  elegerant.  In 
hoc  gaudio  universali  Nos  et  populi  nostri, — Divi  Patritii 
iilii  fideleS; — nos  participes  esse  ultro  fatemur.  Te  Ponti- 
ficem ex  hominibus  assumptum,  apud  Deum  pro  hominibus 
constitutum,  et  super  Sion  Montis  Sancti  apicem  subli- 
matum,  acclamamus.  Te,  Vicarium  Christi  in  terris 
humiliter  et  reverenter  veneramur.  Te,  Successorem  Divi 
Petri  in  regimine  animarum  cum  potestate  suprema  solvendi 
et  retinendi,  obsequamur.  Te,  Custodem  gregis, — Doctorem 
universalem, — lampadem  ardentem,  oleo  sacrae  doctrinae 
omnique  venustate  refertam,  in  lacuna  superiori  constitutam, 
ut  igne  divinitatis  accensa,  non  diutius  lucernae  ipsius 
claritas,  sub  minoris  status  modio  celaretur  abdita,  sed,  ut 


REPLY  OF  HIS  HOLINESS  PIUS  X. 


3 


luceat  omnibus  qui  in  domo  sunt,  poneretur  super  cande- 
labrum, agnoscimus  et  profitemur.  Sit  vita  Tua  longa  in 
terris  et  merces  in  coelis  magna  nimis. 

Nec  immemores  immanis  illius  ponderis, — summarum 
videlicet  clavium — Tibi  B.P.  etiam  renuenti  impositi,  preces 
effundimus  et  effundere  prosequemur,  ut  ad  mentem 
universalis  Ecclesiae,  Deipara  intercedente,  et  B.  Petro 
suffragante,  Omnipotens  et  Misericors  Dominus,  apprehensa 
manu  dextera  Te  custodiat  in  via,  Te  roborare  et  confortare 
dignetur,  ita  ut  accinctis  lumbis  semper  fiducialiter  agas, 
Ecclesiam  Sanctam  Dei  sapienter  regas  et  custodias,  pauper- 
culos  Christi  pascas  et  enutrias,  et  gloriam  Christiani 
Nominis  per  multos  annos  adhuc  extollas  et  amplifices. 

Interim  efflagitamus  enixe  Apostolicam  Benedictionem. 

1^  Michael  Cardinalis  Logue,  Archiepiscopus  Armacanus, 

Totius  Hiberniae  Primas. 
•5*  GuLiELMUS,  Archiep.  Dublinensis,  Hiberniae  Primas. 
»i«  Thomas  Fennelly,  Archiep.  Cassilensis. 
•i«  Joannes,  Archiep.  Tuamensis. 

•i"  Franciscus  Josephus,  Episcopus  Galviensis,  Duacensis 

ac  Adm.  Apost.  Finaborensis. 
<^  Fr.  Thomas  Alphonsus,  Ord.  Praed.,  Episcopus  Cor- 

cagiensis. 
^  Jacobus,  Episcopus  Fernensis. 
•i<  Abraham  Brownrigg,  Epus.  Ossoriensis. 
•i<  Edvardus  Thomas,  Epus.  Limericen. 
•i»  Patritius,  Episcopus  Rapotensis. 

Joannes  Lyster,  Episcopus  Achadensis. 
•i"  Eduardus,  Episcopus  Kilmorensis. 
»i<  Joannes  Coffey,  Epus.  Ardfertensis  et  Aghadoensis. 
^  Thomas  M'Redmond,  Episcopus  Laonensis. 
^  Joannes  K.  O'Doherty,  Episcopus  Derriensis. 
^  Ricardus  Alphonsus,  Epus.  Waterfordiensis. 
^  Joannes  Conmy,  Epus.  Alladensis. 
•i<  RoBERTUS  Browne,  Epus.  Cloynensis. 
•5<  Ricardus  Owens,  Epus.  Clogherensis. 
•J"  Josephus,  Epus.  Ardac.  et  Cluan. 
»J<  Joannes,  Epus.  Elphinensis. 

•i«  Henricus  Henry,  Episcopus  Dunen.  et  Connoren. 
<i<  Patritius  Foley.  Epus.  Kildar.  et  Leighl. 


4 


THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


ii«  DioNYsius,  Ep.  Rossen. 
^  Matthieus  Gaffney,  Episcopus  Midensis. 
^  Henricus  O'Neill,  Episcopus  Dromorensis. 
»i<  Thomas,  Clonfertensis. 

if  NicoLAUs  Donnelly,  Episc.  Tit.  Canensis,  Vic.  Gen., 
Dublinensis,  olim  Auxiliarius  Emi.  M'Cabe. 

Die  14  Odobris,  1903. 


r  5  ] 


THE  DAWN  OF  THE  CENTURY ' 

I. 

{PROPOSE  this  evening  to  put  before  you  a  limited,  but 
let  me  hope,  a  clear,  well-defined  view  of  that  outer 
intellectual  world,  in  which  you  will  soon  be  called  to 
take  your  place,  and  an  important  one  ;  and  with  that 
view  to  stimulate  you  to  more  zealous  and  earnest 
preparation  for  the  part  you  will  have  to  perform.  For  it 
is  sometimes  wise  for  us  all  to  pause  and  think  and  look 
around  us  ;  to  wait  till  the  smoke  clears  away  from  the 
fieldof  battle,  that  we  may  the  better  see  the  alignments  of  the 
enemy,  arrange  our  own  forces,  and  make  such  dispositions 
that  we  may  gain  at  least  an  advantage  ;  for  the  ultimate 
victory,  I  presume,  is  not  for  us,  nor  for  any  soldiers  of 
Christ,  until  the  day  when  the  great  Captain  Himself  shall 
come.  And  measuring  as  I  do  the  vast  energies  that  lie 
hidden,  and  as  yet  bounded  and  locked,  in  the  assemblage 
which  I  have  the  honour  to  address  to-night,  I  feel  a 
certain  sense  of  responsibility — so  great,  that  were  it  not 
for  the  deference  I  owed  to  the  courteous  invitation  of  your 
late  President,  repeated  by  your  present  Superior  ;  and  at 
the  same  time  an  ambition,  I  hope  a  lawful  one,  of  address- 
ing at  least  once  in  my  life,  the  young  minds  and  hearts, 
that  are  to  control  the  future  destinies  of  the  Church  in 
Ireland,  I  should  have  hesitated  about  assuming  a  duty, 
which  might  be  left  in  more  capable  and  zealous  hands. 
Nevertheless,  I  may  be  able  to  give  you  a  glance  into  the 
outer  world,  its  forces,  its  movements,  its  processes  of 
thought,  which  may  awaken  new  ideas,  and  perhaps  larger 
conceptions  of  your  vocation  ;  and  with  these,  fresh  deter- 
minations that  in  the  serious  and  solemn  duties  that  lie 
before  the  Catholic  priesthood  in  our  time,  you  at  least  will 
quit  yourselves  like  men. 

All  life  is  a  process.  Things  do  not  hurry,  neither  do  they 


'  An  Address,  delivered  to  the  Maynooth  Students  in  the  Aula  Maxima  (jf 
the  College,  December  ist,  1903,  by  the  Rev.  P.  A,  Sheehan,  D,D. 


6 


THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


pause.  But,  from  time  to  time,  there  is  just  a  rush  as  of 
forces  breaking  their  bounds  ;  and  then  again  a  lull  in 
human  affairs — a  little  breathing  time  for  poor  humanity, 
wherein  it  stops  suddenly,  and  as  if,  through  sheer  exhaus- 
tion, refuses  to  be  swept  along  on  the  eternal  currents  of 
thought.  Just  such  a  breathing  time  we  have  in  the 
intellectual  world  of  to-day.  There  is  no  great  '  move- 
ment,' as  it  is  called,  going  on  in  the  world  outside.  The  chief 
revolutions  of  the  nineteenth  century  ran  through  their 
little  cycles  and  ceased.  And  we,  who  have  seen  them, 
and  been  blinded  by  their  dust,  and  stunned  by  their  noise, 
now  look  back  with  a  certain  kind  of  wondering  humilia- 
tion, that  we  could  ever  have  allowed  ourselves  to  be  even 
temporarily  disturbed  by  such  feeble  and  transitory  thmgs. 
And  if  we  needed  a  proof  of  that  Divine  arrangement  in  the 
economy  of  life,  by  which  truth  is  safeguarded  in  the  custody 
of  an  unerring  Church,  surely  we  may  find  it  in  the  swift 
judgment  that  Time  has  passed  upon  the  insolent  assump- 
tions of  the  century  that  has  just  expired.  Not  that  these 
systems  and  movements  are  forgotten.  Nay,  it  is  only  now 
they  are  being  studied  in  detail.  There  is  a  curious  leisure 
and  repose  in  the  thought  of  the  world  of  to-day.  It  is  not 
fretted  by  any  particular  system  of  philosophy.  Over  there, 
on  the  sands  of  Brighton,  Herbert  Spencer  is  rolled  up  and 
down  in  a  bath-chair,  speaking  to  no  one,  looking  out  with 
dimmed  eyes  on  the  unfathomable  sea.  He  has  left  a  fair 
amount  of  printed  formulas  which  no  one  reads.  In  that 
highest  domain  of  philosophic  thought,  I  know  no  other 
name  that  men  would  care  to  remember.  Science  has  passed 
from  great  principles  into  mere  experiment.  Instead  of 
being  mistress  of  great  minds,  she  has  become  an  artificer 
of  toys  for  men's  hands  and  human  convenience.  The  dis- 
covery of  the  new  metals,  'uianium'  and  '  radium,'  is 
heralded  as  a  revolution  in  Science.  But  we  are  too  much 
accustomed  to  these  revolutions  to  heed  them.  Darwin  and 
Owen,  Huxley  and  Tyndall  have  vanished,  and  Edison  and 
Marconi  remain.  Great  principles,  for  right  or  wrong,  are 
no  longer  laid  down,  fought  for,  assailed,  accepted,  or 
rejected.    The  dog  listening  for  his  dead  master's  voice  in 


THE  DAWN  OF  THE  CENTURY 


7 


the  phonograph,  and  the  group  around  the  Marconi  wires  in 
the  saloon  of  a  Transatlantic  steamer,  eager  to  catch  the 
gossip  of  two  continents,  are  types  of  the  present.  The 
great  voice  of  poetry  has  died  down  into  a  few  artificial 
notes,  that  have  neither  the  vigour,  nor  the  secret  of 
inspiration.  All  the  chief  singers  of  the  Victorian  era,  except 
one,  are  hushed  in  death.    Swinburne  lives,  but  is  silent- 
The  Poet-Laureate  seems  to  have  already  passed  out  of 
public  consideration.    There  are  but  two  names  before  the 
world  to-day,  and  they  are  called  by  the  damning  term  of 
'  minor  poets,' — Stephen   Phillips    and  William  Watson. 
There  is  one  great  poet — a  Catholic — Francis  Thompson  ; 
but  he,  having  given  to  men  of  all  he  was  worth,  and 
they  were  unworthy,  has  flung  his  two  volumes,  with  a  kind 
of  disdain,  at  the  world's  feet,  and  passed,  like  a  wise  man, 
into  the  peace  and  seclusion  of  a  Fransciscan  monastery. 
Mr.  Lecky,  representing  history,  has  just  passed  away ;  and 
amongst  the  vast  crowd  of  writers,  who  come  under  the 
general  designation  of   '  Men  of  Letters,'  and  the  great 
majority  of  whom  are    mere  magazine  writers  with  but 
ephemeral  reputations,  there  seems  but  one,  who  will  con- 
quer the  neglect  of  time,  and  the  indifference  and  coquetry 
of  fame — and  that,  too,  is  a  Catholic — Dr.  William  Barry. 
Ireland    alone  appears  to    be  alive  amidst  the  general 
torpor.    The  breath  of  life  that  seems  to  have  abandoned 
a  dead  world  is  passing  through  her  veins. 

What,  then,  has  the  '  Dawn  of  the  Century '  to  show  ? 
What  are  the  manifestations  that  we  have  to  study  ;  and  how 
are  we  to  forecast  the  future  from  the  symptoms  of  the  present  ? 

Travellers  who  have  ventured  to  climb  the  steep  ascent 
and  dread  escarpments  of  Vesuvius  tell  us  of  the  feeling  of 
utter  solitude  and  desolation  they  experience  when  they 
have  reached  half-way  up  the  mountain.  They  walk  ankle- 
deep  in  hot  ashes ;  the  half-cooled  streams  of  lava,  ridged 
and  smooth,  are  here  and  there  on  every  side ;  the  air  is 
dark  and  sulphurous,  and  difficult  to  breathe ;  the  guides 
are  timid  and  uncertain  about  proceeding  further.  All 
around  is  horror  upon  horror ;  and  their  hearts  are  chilled 
with  a  sense  of  loneliness  and  fear.    Yet,  looking  upward 


8 


THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


and  onward,  there  is  something  more  terrible.  The  cloud  that 
ever  hangs  above  the  crater  is  lurid  from  the  sulphurous 
fires  beneath,  and  now  and  again  the  mountain  is  shaken 
by  the  deep  reverberations  of  the  terrible  forces  that  are 
trying  to  free  themselves  there  beneath  the  surface,  and 
high  into  the  air  is  flung  a  burning  shower  of  ashes  and 
scoriae  and  red-hot  stones,  and  new  streams  of  molten  lava 
are  poured  down  the  mountain  side.  Here  is  desolation ; 
but  there  is  death.  The  frightened  travellers  dare  not  look 
upwards  ;  they  look  around  them  and  behind  them,  and 
ask  many  questions  of  their  guides  as  to  how  best  they  may 
retrace  their  steps.  Such  is  the  attitude  of  the  intellectual 
world  of  to-day.  All  around  it  is  desolation — the  desolation 
of  abandoned  spirits  on  the  lonely  heights.  It  dares  not 
look  forward.  There  is  but  death.  Its  guides — the  prophets 
of  agnosticism— are  dumb.  All  it  can  do  is  to  stop  and  look 
back,  and  try  to  see  if  haply  the  past  can  be  any  guide  to 
the  future.  Its  attitude  then  to-day  is  essentially  retro- 
spective. It  is  wearied  and  tired  and  frightened.  Nothing 
remains  but  to  study  the  past,  and  see  is  there  a  gleam  of 
hope,  a  guidance  of  life  for  the  enigmatic  future  that  lies 
before  it.  Let  us,  for  our  own  wise  ends,  follow  the  example, 
looking  through  its  eyes,  and  see  what  were  the  forces  that 
guided  the  world  into  its  present  perilous  condition,  and 
leave  it  there  with  the  ashes  of  dead  faiths  about  its  feet. 

The  great  intellectual  forces  of  the  nineteenth  century 
resolved  themselves  into  two  movements,  known  to  his- 
torians as  the  transcendental  and  empirical.  The  former 
sprang  from  the  writings  of  Rousseau ;  affected,  even  created, 
the  French  Revolution,  broadened  out  and  developed  into 
the  great  German  systems  of  philosophy,  passed  into  Eng- 
land and  coloured  the  poetry  of  Wordsworth  and  Coleridge, 
generated  in  France  a  whole  tribe  of  soliloquists  and 
dreamers,  and  finally  was  caught  up  and  crystallised  in 
the  half-prophetic,  half-delirious  preachings  and  rantings 
of  Carlyle.  Thence  it  crossed  the  Atlantic,  inspired  and 
originated  New  England  Transcendentalism  through  the 
Concord  School  of  philosophy,  of  which  Emerson,  a  pupil  of 
Carlyle's,  was  chief  prophet.    The  essential  characteristics 


THE  DAWN  OF  THE  CENTURY 


9 


of  this  school  were  ragueness  and  abstraction.  It  took  its 
very  name  from  the  fancy  that  this  new  knowledge  trans- 
cended all  experience,  and  was  quite  independent  of  reason, 
authority,  the  testimony  of  the  senses,  or  the  testimony  of 
mankind.  Its  knowledge  was  intuitive  and  abstract.  It  de- 
spised definition.  It  taught  the  swift  and  immediate  grasping 
of  a  something  unrevealed  and  indefinite,  which  had  hitherto 
eluded  aU  human  effort  to  compass,  embrace,  or  define. 
Hence  its  terminology  was  vague.  It  spoke  freely  of  the 
Infinite,  the  Infinite  Nothing,  the  Infinite  Essence  of  Things. 
Then  the  Germans  invented  a  more  prosaic  name — the 
thing  that  is  not-I.  Coleridge  made  sub-divisions  and 
introduced  the  now  well-worn  words,  subjective  and  objec- 
tive knowledge.  Carlyle  spoke  of  Eternal  Verities,  the  Im- 
mensities, the  Infinite,  the  Eternal  Silences,  etc.  Emerson 
wrote  of  it  as  the  Over-Soul,  the  Spirit  of  the  Universe. 
How  far  all  this  differed  from  pure  Pantheism  it  were  diffi- 
cult to  say ;  but  it  permeated  all  literature — history  was 
studied  by  its  light,  poetry  was  inspired  by  it,  it  ran 
through  all  fiction,  became  a  religious  creed,  until  men 
everywhere  sought  the  Secret  of  Being  in  the  question  put 
by  Coleridge : — 

And  what  if  all  of  animated  nature 

Be  but  organic  harps  diversely  framed, 

That  tremble  into  thought,  as  o'er  them  sweeps, 

Plastic  and  vast,  one  intellectual  breeze. 

At  once  the  So\i\  of  each,  and  God  of  all  ? 

Then,  somewhere  about  the  middle  of  the  century,  men 
began  to  ask  whether  there  was  any  rule  of  conduct,  any 
code  of  ethics,  under  all  this  cloudy  verbiage.  Men  are 
known  by  their  works.  Systems  are  judged  by  their  results. 
What  have  you  to  show  for  all  this  transcendentalism  ? 
How  does  it  affect  human  life,  human  relations,  human 
progress  ?  How  do  such  doctrines  influence  the  political 
commonwealth  by  educating  statesmen  into  higher  ideas  of 
political  advancement  and  social  amelioration  ?  What  do 
your  prophets  say  ?  And  lo !  it  began  to  be  whispered 
that  the  sentimental  Rousseau  did  actually  send  his  children 
away  to  be  shut  up  in  an  orphan  asylum ;  and  that  Carlyle, 


10  THE   IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


interpreting  the  Infinite  Verities  as  merely  brute,  blind 
force,  did  defend  the  man  who  broke  his  word  of  honour 
hundreds  of  times,  and  carried  fire  and  sword  into  every 
valley  and  hamlet  and  town  in  Ireland ;  and  honoured  the 
Governor  who  scourged  with  whips  of  wire  the  naked  slaves 
of  Jamaica  ;  and  wrote  his  '  Iliad  in  a  nutshell '  to  condemn 
the  Northern  States  of  America  for  the  emancipation  of  the 
Negro.    And  yet,  it  would  be  unjust  not  to  say  that  Trans- 
cendentalism did  raise  men's  minds  above  a  sordid  level. 
If  its  dogmas  were  vague,  at  least  it  appealed  to  the  higher 
instincts  and  emotions.    It  certainly  rated  spiritual  and 
mental  life  above  the  adjuncts  of  mere  material  existence. 
It  took  men  away  from  mammon-worship  and  self-seeking ; 
and  by  insisting  on  the  paramount  importance  of  Duty, 
and  the  vast  responsibilities  of  our  short,  but  sublime 
existence  on  this  planet,  it  gave  the  young  particularly 
higher  conceptions  of  their  calling,  and  put  many  on  the 
high  road  towards  nobler  and  sweeter  lives.    In  Fichte's 
Nature  of  the  Scholar ;   in   Carlyle's  Past  and  Present  ; 
and  in  Emerson's  Address  to  the  American  Scholar,  you 
will  find  all  this  exemplified.    Yet,  men  were  not  satisfied. 
All    these    nebulous  hypotheses  about    Over-Souls  and 
Immensities  could  not  satisfy  the  imperious  demand  of  the 
ever-impatient  mind  of  man  for  something  more  structural 
and  solid.    The  eternal  question  arose  as  to   the  First 
Principles  ;  and  reason  and  logic  alike  declared  the  funda- 
mental truth  :  No  Dogma ;  no  Ethics  !    A  rule  of  life  for 
men  and  nations  must  be  founded  on  something  more  solid 
than  mere  verbal  abstractions.  Yet,  all  this  time,  de  Maistre 
in  France,  Newman  in  England,  were  thundering  this  very 
truth  into  the  ears  of  the  multitude  ;  but  the  multitude 
looked  everywhere  for  illumination,  except  from  the  central 
sun. 

Suddenly,  a  momentous  change  swept  over  human 
thought.  With  one  bound,  it  leaped  to  the  opposite 
extreme.  '  We  are  tired  of  abstractions,'  it  cried.  '  We 
want  facts !  No  more  intuition,  but  demonstration ! 
Reason  shall  be  omnipotent.  There  is  Nature  under  our 
eyes  and  hands.    We  will  question  her  ;    and  she  will 


THE  DAWN  OF  THE  CENTURY 


II 


answer.  She  will  give  up  her  secrets  to  us,  and  we  will 
build  our  systems  upon  them.  We  will  tear  open  the 
bowels  of  the  mountains,  and  read  their  signs,  as  the  haru- 
spices  of  old  read  the  entrails  of  the  sacred,  sacrificial 
fowl,  and  augured  well  or  ill  from  the  revelation.  We  will 
pull  down  the  stars  from  the  skies,  weigh  them,  and  test 
their  constituents.  We  will  seek  the  elemental  forces  of 
Nature,  and  there  we  shall  find  the  elemental  truths.  We 
will  pry  into  all  things  and  everywhere,  dredge  the  seas, 
sweep  the  rivers,  drag  fossils  out  of  Mammoth  Caves,  con- 
struct the  forms  of  dead  leviathans  from  one  bone,  examine 
the  dust  of  stars  in  shattered  aerolites,  and  the  structure  of 
the  animal  creation  in  the  spawn  of  frogs  by  the  wayside 
pool,  or  the  tadpoles  in  the  month  of  May.  And  we  shall 
find  that  all  things  are  made  for  man  ;  and  that  man  alone 
is  the  Omnipotent  and  Divine.'  Poets  took  up  the  pse  m  of 
the  New  Era,  and  sang  it  in  verse  that  is  more  immortal 
than  the  cause.  Tennyson  laid  aside  his  Higher  Pantheism, 
and  all  the  idealizations  of  youth  to  chaunt  the  praises  of 
the  new  pioneers  of  humanity.  And  the  world  took  up  the 
cry.  Through  the  steamship,  the  telegraph,  distance  was 
annihilated.  Mankind  was  shaken  by  new  emotions.  The 
world  was  moved  from  its  solid  basis ;  and  began  to  shift 
its  centres  of  population.  Old  countries  were  dispeopled  ; 
and  new  states  formed,  out  of  a  curious  congeries  of  mixed 
and  very  dissimilar  nationalities.  The  agricultural  masses 
began  to  sweep  into  the  towns  which  rapidly  grew  into 
cities  under  the  increase  of  population.  Vast  buildings 
were  iiung  into  the  sky,  filled  with  all  modern  appliances 
and  conveniences  ;  and  in  the  exultation  of  the  moment, 
men  looked  back  upon  the  past  with  a  kind  of  pitying 
ridicule.  '  We  are  done  with  cloud-building  and  abstrac- 
tions for  ever,'  they  said.  '  We  have  facts  instead  of  faith. 
This  is  our  earth,  our  world  ;  and  we  want  no  other.  The 
ultimate  triumph  of  humanity  is  at  hand  !  ' 

And  then  ? — well,  then,  at  the  very  height  of  all  this 
pride,  men  suddenly  discovered  that  under  all  this  huge 
mechanism  and  masonry,  they  had  actually  driven  out  the 
soul  of  man  ;  and  they  began  to  ask  themselves  :    Is  this 


12 


THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


the  result  ?    And  is  it  a  resxilt  that  we  can  boast  of  ? 
Empiricism  has  triumphed.    But  is  the  building  of  sky- 
scrapers, the  slaughter  of  so  many  million  of  hogs,  the 
stretching   of  wires  across  our  cities,   our  underground 
railways,  our   sea-tunnels — is    all   this  a    substitute  or 
compensation  for  all  the  ideals  we  have  sacrificed  and  lost  ? 
And  when  men  began  to  see  that  beneath  all  this  material 
splendour,  every  noble  quality  that  distinguishes  man  was 
utterly  extinguished ;  when  they  saw  the  horrors  of  their 
midnight  streets,  the  masses  festering  in  city  slums,  the 
great  gulf  broadening  between  the  rich  and  poor,  selfishness, 
greed.  Mammon-worship,  the  extinction  of  the  weak,  the 
sovereignty  of  the  strong,  the  cruelty,  the  brutality,  that 
are  ever  latent  in  the  human  heart,  developed  by  the  new 
civilization,  they  began  to  shrink  back  appalled  from  their 
own  creation,  and  to  think  that  after  all,  '  man  liveth  not 
by  bread  alone.'     And  if  for  a  moment  they  hesitated 
about  this  new  belief  in  the  terrible  destructiveness  of  a 
Godless  science,  there  came,  ever  and   anon,  the  deep 
mutterings  of  a  new  terror,  the  very  offspring  of  the  science 
they  had  worshipped — the  spectre  of  socialism  and  anarchy. 
'  Yes,'  cried  the  latter,  '  we,  too,  are    the   children  of 
science.    Nay  more,  we  are  its  servants  and  ministers ;  we 
feed  its  furnaces  with  shades  over  our  eyes  to  protect  them 
from  the  blinding  glare  ;  we  work  ten  hours  a  day,  stripped 
to  the  waist,  and  buckets  of  water  have  to  be  flung  over  us 
from  time  to  time  to  cool  our  burning  flesh  ;  and  you,  dressed 
in  your  silks,  with  your  Turkish  baths  and  servants  to  fan  you 
from  the  slightest  breath  of  a  summer  wind  !    Who  hath 
decreed  this  inequality  ?    It  is  our  labour  and  sweat  that 
have  built  up  your  eighty  millions  of  dollars,  and  our  guerdon 
is  barely  a  dollar  a  day.    You  roll  by  in  your  Pullman, 
whilst  we  keep  the  road  clear  for  you  under  a  tropical  sun. 
Your  children  are  absolutely  weakened  with  excessive 
luxury  ;  ours  are  starving,  body  and  soul,  in  the  slums. 
And  after  all,  where  is  the  difference  between  you  and  us  ? 
You  doubt  it.    We'll  prove  it.    You  are  the  same  clay  as 
we.    Mark  you,  this  dagger  will  pierce  your  flesh,  this  tiny 
bullet   will  extinguish  your  life.     You  have  whipped  us 


THE  DAWN  OF  THE  CENTURY 


13 


witk  scorpions.  But  we  hereby  order  that  you  shall  sleep 
beneath  the  crossed  bayonets  of  your  soldiers  ;  that  your 
mightiest  Emperor  and  Czar  shall  never  enter  Rome  ;  and 
you  must  draw  a  cordon  of  soldiers  around  the  quays  of 
New  York  to  save  your  President's  life  from  the  pious 
vengeance  of  our  emissaries.'  So  says,  in  unmistakable 
language,  the  latest  creation  of  Empiricism,  and  the  poets 
take  up  the  cry ;  and  the  prophetic  voice  that  chaunted  the 
glories  of  science  in  '  Locksley  Hall,'  grows  hoarse  in  its 
wailings  over  a  lost  world  in  the  '  Locksley  Hall  Sixty 
Years  After.'  Yes !  Science  hath  wrested  all  its  secrets 
from  Nature,  but  one,  the  great  secret,  which  she  never 
reveals  but  to  the  children  of  faith. 

The  attitude  of  the  intellectual  world  to-day,  then,  is 
an  attitude  of  waiting  ;  and  in  waiting,  an  attitude  of 
indifferentism.  Not  indifference,  because  it  is  actually 
aware  of  its  critical  condition,  and  looks  forward 
with  anxious  eyes.  Nay,  from  time  to  time,  it  turns  around 
and  gazes  towards  the  Eternal  City  and  the  Supreme 
Pontiff ;  and  in  view  of  the  powerlessness  of  states  and 
governments  to  conquer  the  anarchy  that  seethes  in  every 
Empire,  it  is  watching  the  Church  with  a  '  perhaps '  upon 
its  lips.  Great  Kings  have  already  gone  thither,  and  their 
royal  pilgrimages  were  universally  interpreted  as  an 
admission  that  Rome  alone  could  battle  with  the  new  forces 
which  irreligion  had  let  loose  on  the  world  ;  and  the  peoples, 
following  their  royal  masters,  and  in  view  not  only  of 
shattered  faith,  but  of  shattered  beliefs  in  human  systems, 
that  promised  so  much  and  performed  so  little,  are  beginning 
to  ask  if,  after  all  that  has  been  said  and  suggested,  Rome 
alone  held  the  secret  of  the  stability  of  Empires,  and  the 
safety  and  happmess  of  the  individual  in  those  doctrines 
and  precepts  which  she  preaches  so  uncompromisingly  to 
an  unbelieving  and  scoffing  world.  Across  the  Atlantic, 
where  she  has  more  freedom  than  in  older  and  more  con- 
servative states,  she  is  making  rapid  progress.  There,  too, 
the  distinction  of  classes  is  more  sharply  drawn,  because 
there  wealth  and  poverty  reach  greater  extremes  than  in 
older  countries.     And  there  is  wanting  in  America  that 


14 


THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


strong  conservatism,  born  of  traditional  feudalism,  that  is 
saving,  in  some  measure,  the  thrones  of  Europe.  And  the 
non-Catholic  world  of  America  is  beginning  to  perceive  that 
should  the  forces  of  Anarchy  and  Socialism  ever  break 
bounds  and  attempt  revolution,  there  is  no  moral  force  to 
stop  the  outbreak  but  the  Catholic  Church.  Hence,  states- 
men and  Presidents  court  friendship,  if  not  alliance,  with 
the  American  hierarchy  ;  and  the  advance  of  education, 
wherein  our  Catholic  schools  take  a  leading  place,  is  gradu- 
ally acting  as  a  solvent  on  ancient  prejudices  brought  from 
the  mother  country,  and  fostered  by  designing  and  militant 
controversialists. 

But  you  will  reasonably  ask,  what  has  all  this  to  do  with 
us  who  are  destined  to  work  within  the  four  seas  of  Ireland  ? 
Tell  us  something  about  our  own  country,  its  wants,  its 
aspirations,  its  capabilities,  its  dangers.  We  pity  the  world, 
stranded  there  on  the  mountain  heights,  unable  to  go  back- 
ward, afraid  to  go  forward,  its  guides  dumb  and  impotent 
under  the  spell  of  modern  agnosticism.  But  we  are  more 
deeply  concerned  about  our  own  people  with  whom  all  our 
best  interests  are  identified.  Well,  you  have  a  right  to  ask 
the  question,  although,  as  I  shall  show  you,  you  have  need, 
too,  to  be  much  interested  in  the  attitude  of  the  intellectual 
world  beyond  the  seas. 

I  have  said,  that  the  breath  of  a  new  life  has  been 
breathed  on  our  old  land.  The  eternal  vitality  of  our 
race,  not  to  be  extinguished  by  rack  or  gibbet,  Penal  Law 
or  Grecian  gift,  has  broken  out  these  last  few  years  in  a 
vast  intellectual  revival,  the  consequences  of  which  it  would 
be  difficult  to  measure  to-day.  It  would  seem  as  if  whilst  the 
population  waned,  the  intellectual  forces  of  the  country 
became  concentred  in  a  great  effort  towards  national 
regeneration.  All  the  best  elements  of  the  country  seem  to 
unite  in  a  forward  movement,  that  promises  well  for  the 
future  of  our  country  and  our  race.  Our  poets  have  given 
up  the  ballads  and  battle-songs  which  were  so  familiar  a  half- 
century  ago  ;  and  gone  back  to  Pre-Christian  times  for  in- 
spiration. A  National  Theatre  has  been  established  for  the 
stage  reproduction  of  dramas,   founded  on  the  epics,  or 


THE  DAWN  OF  THE  CENTURY 


15 


history,  or  legends  of  the  past  ;  and  the  race  is  more  in- 
terested with  the  wars  of  the  Firbolgs  and  Danaans  than 
with  the  struggles  of  the  Gael  and  the  Pale.  And  the 
attempt  to  save  from  extinction  that  greatest  heirloom  of 
the  race — our  National  language — has  eventuated  in  an  all- 
round  revival  of  national  sports  and  pastimes,  music  and 
literature,  which  to  one,  who  witnessed  the  apathy  of  a 
dozen  years  ago,  must  seem  phenomenal.  Yet,  there  is  just  a 
discordant  and  dangerous  note  even  here.  If  some  Hellenists 
in  England  and  France  have  raised  the  cry  :  Back  to  Greece 
from  Christianity  !  Back  to  the  beautiful  physical  life,  the 
art,  the  drama,  the  music,  the  freedom  of  ancient  Hellas, 
from  the  restraints  and  asceticism  of  Christianity  ;  there  are 
not  wanting  amongst  ourselves,  a  certain  class  of  art- 
worshippers  and  nature-worshippers,  who  seem  to  prefer  the 
free  unlicensed  Pagan  freedom  of  our  forefathers  to  the 
sweeter  influences  which  Christianity  introduced.  I  do  not 
regard  this,  however,  as  a  dangerous  symptom.  I  do  not 
think  the  work  of  St.  Patrick  and  fourteen  centuries  of 
Saints  and  Scholars  is  likely  to  be  frustrated  by  a  few 
Neo-Pagans  and  iEsthetes  in  our  time. 

Then,  of  course,  with  the  advance  of  education,  and  the 
creation  of  the  class  of  the  '  educated-unemployed,'  there 
must  be  a  certain  amount  of  restlessness,  and  chafing  under 
control,  and  a  spirit  of  criticism  and  censoriousness,  which 
can  only  be  dissipated  by  larger  educational  training,  or  the 
judicious  employment  of  those  who  have  won  distinction 
in  our  Colleges  and  Intermediate  Schools.  A  few  weeks  ago, 
on  the  occasion  of  the  apostasy  of  a  certain  realistic  novel- 
writer,  one  of  our  Irish  papers  had  the  following  para- 
graph :— 

The  personality  of  Mr.  Moore  would  not  be  worth  even  a 
contemptuous  reference,  were  it  not  that  there  are  thousands  of 
young  Irishmen  in  some  of  our  big  cities,  whose  minds  are  being 
slowly  and  gradually,  and  very  surely,  poisoned  by  influences 
which  lead  directly  towards  the  abysmal  gulf  of  George  Mooreism. 
Speeches  have  been  delivered  and  paragraphs  have  been 
printed  quite  recently  which  indicate  that  the  speakers  and 
writers  are  drifting,  perhaps  imperceotibly,  but  none  the  less 


l6  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


steadily,  towards  a  frame  of  mind,  doubting,  carping,  hyper- 
critical, which  will  not  in  the  end  be  distinguishable  from 
Continentcd  Atheism. 

And  as  if  to  emphasize  and  corroborate  these  words,  we 
had,  a  few  days  after  they  appeared,  an  expression  of  opinion 
from  the  highest  quarters  to  the  same  effect — that  there 
were  probably  here  amongst  ourselves  certain  thinkers,  too 
small  of  stature  and  too  limited  in  numbers  to  form  a 
school,  but  whose  antipathies  and  desires  seem  to  run  parallel 
with  those  of  the  unhappy  men  who  are  bringing  ruin  upon 
Catholic  France.  These  things  are  not  alarming,  but  signi- 
cant.    They  are  symptoms  which  we  cannot  disregard. 

II 

Such  then  is  the  vision  of  the  world  as  it  is  shown  to  us 
here  in  the  dawn  of  our  century.  But  I  should  not  have 
travelled  one  hundred  and  eighty  miles  to  reveal  to  you 
what  might  be  imfolded  from  every  page  of  modern  litera- 
ture, if  I  had  not  the  larger  object  of  applying  to  your  own 
needs  the  lessons  that  may  be  derived  from  such  a  review  of 
modern  fact  and  thought ;  and  of  forecasting  your  own  part 
in  their  future  developments.  In  making  such  a  practical 
application,  I  should  feel  less  scrupulous  if  I  were  speaking 
to  older  heads  than  yours.  Mind  I  do  not  say  '  wiser  '  heads, 
for  I  am  one  of  those  who  think  that  sometimes  the  splendid 
disdain  of  youth  is  more  than  the  cautious  and  careful  feel- 
ing forward  of  age.  But  I  should  feel  then  that  my  words 
were  merely  tentative  and  experimental.  But  here  I  feel 
that  I  am  casting  seminal  ideas  into  souls  whose  principles 
have  not  yet  hardened  in  the  mould  of  experience  ;  and 
which,  therefore,  owing  to  this  very  plasticity,  need  to  be 
formed  on  lines  that  shall  be  drawn  altogether  right  and  fair 
and  well-proportioned.  I  feel,  too,  that,  as  time  goes  by, 
each  of  you  will  be  perforce  compelled  to  try  my  words  at  the 
bar  of  experience  ;  and  there  are  many  counsellors  there, 
and  in  the  multitude  thereof  there  is  not  much  wisdom. 
Nay,  you  will  be  tossed  hither  and  thither  by  every  wind  of 
opinion  in  your  latter  lives.    You  will  have  to  see  principles 


THE  DAWN  OF  THE  CENTURY 


17 


which  you  deemed  irrefragable,  ruthlessly  challenged  and  set 
aside ;  and  you  will  have  to  face  the  worst  of  all  mental 
trials — the  adjustment  of  your  conduct  to  lofty  ideals,  which, 
however,  will  be  altogether  inconsistent  with  your  interests 
and  immediate  happiness.  Amidst  this  eternal  fluctiiation 
of  human  opinion,  and  rushing  together  of  thoughts,  feelings, 
and  principles,  chaotic  and  confusing  enough — one  star 
shines,  ever  fixed,  immovable,  shedding  its  soft,  lambent 
light  across  your  life -way,  fixed  as  the  Polar  Star,  and  bright 
as  Phosphor — the  Star  of  Duty.  There  is  no  drawing  the 
curtains  across  its  light,  no  seeking  to  shut  out  its  piercing 
rays.  It  will  shine  through  darkness  as  of  Erebus  ;  and 
pierce  even  through  recesses  where  the  soul  seeks  to  hide 
itself  from  itself.    And  what  is  that  Duty  ? 

I  doubt  if  there  be  a  more  dramatic  scene  in  all  human 
history  than  that  which  took  place  on  a  certain  mountain  in 
Judaea  some  twenty  centuries  ago.  A  young  man,  appa- 
rently a  mere  carpenter's  son,  had  just  dismissed  a  wonder- 
ing, admiring  crowd,  who  had  begun  to  speak  of  Him 
as  the  '  Prophet  of  Nazareth '  ;  and  had  gathered  around 
Him  a  few  of  His  disciples,  to  whom  He  had  to  say  more 
solemn  and  sacred  things.  They,  that  handful  of  men,  were 
raw,  illiterate,  unkempt,  half-naked  ;  their  hands  rough 
from  toil,  their  scanty  clothes  glistening  with  the  scales  of 
the  fish  they  had  pulled  from  the  lake  beneath  them.  And 
what  was  his  message  ?  After  quietly  setting  aside  all 
hitherto-recognised  principles  of  human  wisdom,  He 
suddenly  addressed  them  : — 

You  are  the  light  of  the  world !  You  are  the  salt  of  the 
earth  ! 

What !  A  lot  of  half-clad,  semi-savage  Israelites — the 
light  of  the  world  ?  Hear  it,  O  ye  sophists  over  there  in 
Athens,  listening  to  the  calm,  cultured  wisdom  of  one  of 
your  rhetoricians,  as  he  expounds  and  develops  the  ever- 
new  beauties  of  the  master-minds  of  Greece  !  And  hear  it, 
O  ye  Romans,  listening  in  your  white  togas  in  the  Forum  to 
the  greatest  of  your  orators,  and  the  most  profound  of  your 
philosophers  !    Hear  and  wonder  at  this  sublime  audacity — 

VOL.    XV.  B 


THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


a  young  tradesman  in  one  of  your  conquered  provinces  is 
telling  a  handful  of  fishermen  that  they  are  '  the  light  of  the 
world.'  Not  you  Plato,  nor  you  Socrates  ;  not  you  Cicero 
or  Seneca  ;  but  Peter,  the  fisherman,  and  Matthew,  the 
publican  ;  and  this  boy  whom  they  call  John — these  are 
the  light  of  the  world  !  Who  could  believe  it  ?  Well,  we, 
taught  by  Revelation,  by  history,  by  the  subversion  of  an 
inteUectualism  that  was  Pagan,  and  the  substitution  of  a 
folly  that  is  Divine — we  believe  it,  and  we  know  it. 

And  if  our  Lord  were  justified  in  pronouncing  and 
prophesying  such  a  sublime  vocation  for  His  disciples,  am 
I  not  right  in  saying  to  you,  the  future  priests  of  Ireland  : 
You  are  the  Light  of  the  World  !  You  are  the  Salt  of  the 
Earth  ?  Yes  !  the  pure  white  light  that  strikes  here  from 
Rome  is  broken  up  into  a  hundred,  a  thousand  rays  that 
penetrate  even  to  the  ends  of  the  earth.  Maynooth  is  the 
Propaganda  of  the  West,  and  you  are  its  Apostles !  Now 
what  does  that  connote  ? 

Although  primarily  intended  for  t  he  training  of  priestsof 
the  Irish  mission,  this  great  College  has  become  of  late  years 
as  much  a  Foreign  College  as  All  Hallows, — it  is,  let  me 
repeat  it,  for  I  glory  in  the  title  and  all  its  vast  significances 
— the  Western  Propaganda !  Yes  !  we  cannot  suppress  our 
instincts — we  cannot  deny  our  vocation — we  cannot  refuse 
our  mission.  We  are  the  Apostles  of  the  world  to-day. 
Even  in  my  own  remote  village,  within  the  last  few  months, 
we  had  three  or  four  deputations  of  nuns  from  Cape  Colony, 
from  Dakota,  from  Los  Angeles,  seeking  amongst  our  Irish 
children  what  apparently  cannot  be  found  elsewhere  on  this 
planet — those  pure  minds,  that  keen  intelligence,  and  that 
personal  love  of  God,  that  are  the  constituents  of  a  religious 
vocation.  The  same  is  true  all  over  Ireland.  And  you, 
gentlemen,  many  of  you,  may — must  go  abroad,  to  other 
countries,  and  amidst  a  people  different  from  your  own. 
Instead  of  the  happy,  religious,  sunny  children  of  Faith,  you 
will  have  to  speak  to  the  people  on  the  gloomy  hillside, 
their  feet  in  the  hot  ashes,  the  desolation  of  unfaith  around 
them,  and  their  guides  as  dumb  and  panic-stricken  as  them- 
selves.   You  will  meet  them  everywhere.    They  will  come 


THE  DAWN  OF  THE  CENTURY 


19 


to  hear  your  sermons  in  some  English  church,  and  to 
challenge  you  about  your  faith  on  Monday  morning.  They 
will  cry  to  you  through  the  Press  ;  and  half  insolently,  half 
pleadingly,  they  will  ask  for  light.  You  will  meet  them  at 
dinner  tables  in  country  houses,  and  they  will  ask  you, 
amid  the  dinner  courses,  strange  questions  about  modern 
beliefs  or  disbeliefs.  And  if  you  are  the  light  of  the  world 
remember  the  solemn  injunction:  Let  your  light  shine 
before  men  !  Now,  these  strange,  sad  people,  to  whom  you, 
a  Catholic  priest,  are  a  mysterious,  solemn,  unintelligible 
anachronism,  wiU  speak  to  you,  not  in  your  language — the 
language  of  faith,  but  in  their  own  tongue  ;  and  that  you 
must  set  yourselves  to  understand  and  interpret.  If  you 
care  to  influence  them  you  must  go  over  to  their  side,  stand 
on  their  platform,  look  through  their  eyes.  They  know 
nothing  of  you— your  philosophy,  your  theology  ;  but  if  you 
let  them  see  that  you  know  all  about  them,  it  gains  their 
confidence,  lessens  their  pride,  shows  them  that  you  have 
seen  all,  understand  all,  and  that  your  light  is  not  a  shaded 
lamp,  but  a  sun  that  penetrates  every  corner  and  recess  of 
the  human  heart.  Hence,  in  pursuing  your  philosophical 
or  theological  studies,  you  need  to  have  an  objective  before 
your  mind.  Rid  yourselves  of  the  idea  that  yours  is  routine 
work.  Study  that  you  may  know,  know  that  you  may 
understand,  understand  that  you  may  communicate  your 
knowledge  to  others.  '  Let  your  light  shine  before 
men  ! ' 

In  one  of  Rudyard  Kipling's  earliest  books  he  tells  of 
how  a  raw  regiment  of  British  troops  was  brought  up  from 
the  lowlands  to  the  Afghan  hills  to  break  up  and  destroy  an 
Afghan  horde  that  were  hidden  in  a  gut  or  ghaut  of  the 
mountains.  They  marched  gaily,  to  the  sound  of  fife  and 
drum,  into  the  valley,  deployed,  advanced  in  close  forma- 
tion, saw  the  enemy  grouped  ahead,  were  ordered  to  fire. 
They  shut  their  eyes  and  fired — a  half  ton  of  lead  into — the 
bodies  of  the  Afghans  ?  No  !  Into  the  ground  !  In  an 
instant  the  Afghans  were  upon  them,  slashing  them,  right 
and  left  with  their  terrible  triangular  knives,  and  in  a 
moment  the  British  regiment  was  in  full  flight,  whilst  the 


152 


THE  IRISH  F.CCLESTASTICAL  RECORD 


those  who  were  involved  in  her  future  fate — friends  and 
enemies,  French  and  EngUsh  ahke.  As  prisoner  of  war 
she  was  sent  from  Compiegne  to  the  castle  of  Beaulieu, 
and  thence  after  about  two  months  to  the  castle  of  Beaur- 
voir.  It  was  while  here  that  she  leaped  from  the  castle 
walls  to  escape  from  the  hands  of  her  enemies,  and  to  fly 
again  to  the  relief  of  Compiegne.  The  unsuccessful  but 
daring  act  was  afterwards  distorted  into  a  groundless  charge 
of  attempted  suicide. 

According  to  the  laws  and  usages  of  war  the  utmost 
punishment  that  could  be  inflicted  on  the  Maid  was  im- 
prisonment.   The  English,  however,  were  determined  to 
have  her  in  their  own  grasp,  and  to  the  disgrace  of  John  of 
Luxembourg,  he  sold  her  to  the  enemy  whom  she  had  so 
often  defeated  and  humiliated  on  the  battlefield.    The  price 
paid  would  amount  in  our  present  money  to  about  £20,000, 
and  it  is  lamentable  to  add  that  the  base  transaction  on  the 
part  of  the  English  was  carried  out  by  a  dignitary'  of  the 
Church,  a  man  of  evil  memory,  Peter  Cauchon,  Bishop  of 
Beauvais.    When  the  English  had  been  driven  out  of 
Beauvais  by  Joan,  this  wretched  traitor  to  Church  and 
country,  fled  with  his  fnends,  vowing  vengeance  against 
his  conqueror.    Now  he  is  able  to  carry  out  his  threats. 
The  vanquished  heroine  is  in  the  power  of  her  pitiless 
enemies.    The  English  will  not  be  content  with  her  death  ; 
they  will  rob  her  of  her  honour  as  well  as  of  her  life,  and 
will  blacken  her  memory  before  committing  her  to  the 
grave.    They  cannot,  moreover,  put  her  to  death  because 
she  had  fought  against  them  and  conquered  them.  To 
satisfy  their  cowardly  lust  for  revenge,  they  will  have  her 
tried  by  an  ecclesiastical  tribunal  on  charges  of  sorcery, 
heresy,  and  impiety  of  every  sort.      Cauchon,  if  not  tlie 
prime  mover,  is,  at  least,  the  pliant  instrument  of  the  for- 
eigner in  this  infamous  proceeding.    He  is  to  be  the  presid- 
ing judge  ;  all  his  fellow  judges  are  to  be  creatures  of  the 
English  faction — most  of  them  in  the  pay  of  the  English. 
Bedford,  uncle  of  Henry  VI.,  summons  this  court  in  the 
name  of  his  nephew,  the  '  King  of  England  and  France.' 


JOAN  OF  ARC 


153 


It  held  its  first  meeting  in  Rouen  (whither  Joan  had  been 
taken)  on  the  21st  February. 

To  read  the  authentic  report  of  this  trial  is  to  inflict  a 
shock  on  all  our  feelings  of  justice  and  humanity.  In  mercy 
to  the  reader  I  pass  over  the  details  and  refer  briefly  only 
to  a  few  of  the  chief  incidents  of  the  cruel  tragedy.  From 
her  arrival  in  Rouen  until  the  commencement  of  the  judi- 
cial proceedings,  Joan  was  treated  with  savage  barbarity 
—locked  up  in  a  cage  both  day  and  night,  heavy  chains 
binding  her  neck  and  hands  and  feet.  At  the  commence- 
ment of  the  trial  this  cruelty  was  somewhat  relaxed,  but 
she  was  still  kept  chained  in  a  small  cell,  with  five  coarse- 
featured,  coarse-natured  Enghshmen  to  guard  her,  or  rather 
to  jeer  at  and  insult  her  with  their  ribald  jokes. 

Cauchon's  court,  while  observing  certain  legal  formalities 
trampled  on  every  rule  of  justice  and  fair  play.  'Guilty' 
was  a  foregone  conclusion.  To  hesitate,  on  the  part  of  the 
judges,  was  to  incur  the  deadly  wrath  of  their  English 
masters.  Warwick  during  the  trial  had  threatened  two 
of  them  with  instant  death,  because  they  had  shown  some 
little  sympathy  with  the  prisoner.  It  was  clearly  stated 
moreover,  that  no  matter  what  the  verdict,  the  Maid  was 
to  be  put  to  death— the  purchasers  were  to  have  value  for 
their  money. 

The  trial  dragged  on  for  months.  The  chief  charges 
against  the  Maid  were  that  she  was  an  emissary  of  the 
devil,  and  a  schismatic.  Day  after  day,  alone,  unaided, 
friendless,  she  was  examined,  riddled,  and  worried  with 
abstruse  and  cunningly  devised  questions,  ordered  to 
account  for  every  act  and  incident  of  her  life — from  her 
childhood  dance  under  the  '  fairy  tree,'  of  Domremy,  to 
her  '  attemped  suicide '  m  Beaurvoir  castle.  Thus  brow- 
beaten, insulted,  threatened  with  torture  and  death,  she 
displayed  to  her  judges  the  same  intrepid  spirit  which  she 
had  so  often  shown  to  her  enemies  on  the  battlefield.  The 
court,  however,  was  determined  by  every  means,  fair  and 
foul,  to  shake  her  magnificent  fortitude,  to  make  her  admit 
that  her  whole  life  was  an  impious  lie,  and  that  the  '  voices  ' 
which  she  believed  were  from  God,  were  merely  hallucina- 


22 


THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


lives  are  not  modelled  on  Christian  principles,  and  your  life 
is  a  perpetual  protest  against  theirs.  Your  sermons,  your 
life,  your  insistence  on  the  great  Christian  Verities  fret 
them  beyond  endurance,  and  they  hate  you.  Odit  vos 
mundus  !  There  is  another  class,  which  is  not  irreligious, 
but  which  seems  to  blot  out  of  their  mental  horizon  any 
one  under  the  rank  of  an  Archdeacon.  These  may  be  good 
Catholics,  but  they  do  not  concern  us  here.  They  are 
not  an  appreciable  quantity,  so  far  as  we  are  concerned. 
There  is  a  third  class,  and  to  these  I  direct  your  special 
attention,  as  they  touch  closely  on  that  intellectual, 
godless  world  of  which  I  have  already  spoken.  There  is  no 
use  in  our  trying  to  close  our  eyes  to  the  fact  that  many  of 
our  young  Catholics  have  imbibed  the  Continental  spirit, 
and  set  themselves  up  as  judges,  not  only  of  individuals, 
even  those  in  the  highest  offices  in  the  Church,  but  even  of 
the  dogmas  of  Catholic  Faith.  These  are  the  people  who 
will  tell  you  that  the  Dreyfus  case  was  urged  on  by  the 
Catholic  Bishops  of  France,  that  persecution  of  the  Religious 
Orders  to-day  is  not  the  work  of  Combes,  but  has  arisen 
from  the  jealousies  between  the  regular  and  the  secular  clergy 
in  France,  that  the  Bishops  were  even  compelled  to  call  in 
the  aid  of  the  Government  to  save  them  from  the  encroach- 
ments of  monks  and  nuns.  The  same  class  will  coolly  tell 
you  that  all  the  evils  of  Ireland  can  be  traced  to  the  action 
of  the  Catholic  Church  ;  and  if  you  question  them  about 
their  authorities,  they  will  quote  the  inlidel  papers  of  Paris ; 
or  such  a  historian  as  Froude.  Then  they  pass  to  dogma. 
Indulgences,  Prayers  for  the  Dead,  the  sacramentals  of  the 
Church,  the  little  devotions  of  the  faithful,  are  anathema 
maranaiha  to  these  highly  cultivated  folk,  who  condescend 
to  go  to  Mass,  and,  under  a  certain  tacit  coercion  of  public 
opinion,  to  attend  to  the  Easter  Duty. 

With  that  class,  and,  indeed,  with  all  others,  one  safe 
principle  may  be  laid  down — that  the  Irish  priest  must  be 
in  advance  of  his  people,  educationally,  by  at  least  fifty 
years.  The  priests  have  the  lead,  and  they  must  keep  it. 
But  the  right  of  leadership,  now  so  often  questioned,  must  be 
supported  by  tangible  and  repeated  proofs;  and  these  proofs 


THE  DAWN  OF  THE  CENTURY 


23 


must  concern  not  only  your  spiritual  authority,  but  your 
intellectual  superiority.  The  young  priest  who  has  lectured 
on  'Hamlet'  in  the  town  hall  on  Thursday  night,  is  listened 
to  with  deeper  respect  on  Sunday  morning.  The  priest  who 
conducts  a  long  and  laborious  experiment  before  a  literary 
and  scientific  society  in  any  of  our  cities  is,  henceforward, 
an  acknowledged  and  unquestioned  guide  in  his  village. 
And  the  priest  who,  quietly  and  without  temper,  overthrows 
one  of  those  carping  critics  at  a  dinner-party,  may  confirm, 
without  the  possibility  of  its  being  disturbed  again,  the  faith 
of  many  who  were  present,  and  whose  beliefs,  perhaps,  were 
rudely  shaken  by  the  impertinence  of  the  shallow  criticism 
to  which  they  had  just  been  listening.  No,  in  Ireland  at 
least,  gentlemen,  we  must  not  hide  our  light  under  a  bushel. 
Our  national  Church  must  be  the  '  city  built  on  the  high 
mountains.'  And  we  must  not  grovel,  nor  make  excuses, 
nor  apologise  for  our  existence.  We  have  the  lead,  and  we 
must  keep  it !  What  all  that  connotes  and  signifies  I  must 
leave  to  yourselves  to  imagine  and  develop. 

But  there  is  one  thing  in  which,  above  all  others,  we  must 
keep  ahead  of  our  people — the  supreme  matter  of  priestly 
holiness.    And  this  takes  me  away  from  your  outer  duties 
to  address  yourselves.    I  have  kept  the  good  wine  to  the 
last;  and,  alas!  I  have  left  you  but  little  time  to  drink  it. 
But,  probably,  these,  my  first,  will  also  be  my  last  words 
to  you ;  and  I  desire  to  throw  into  them  all  the  emphasis 
of  which  I  am  capable.    In  after  life  you  will  increase  your 
intellectual  stores;  you  will  enlarge  your  intellectual  horizon. 
By  large  reading  and  much  reflection  you  will  find  your- 
selves, in  ten  or  twenty  years,  in  quite  a  different  sphere  of 
thought  from  that  in  which  you  are  placed  to-day.  Your 
education  will  only  commence  the  day  you  leave  college 
and  enter  the  larger  life.    But  in  one  department  you 
shaU  never  advance  or  improve — I  mean  the  department 
of  spiritual  science.    The  principles  taught  now  by  your 
professors  and  spiritual  guides  are  fixed  and  unchangeable  ; 
if  ever  you  change  or  abandon  them,  it  will  be  to  your 
temporal  detriment  and  eternal  ruin.    What  do  I  mean  ? 
You  are  taught  now  that  on  the  day  when  the  Pontiff 


24  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


places  his  hands  on  your  heads,  and  your  fingers  clasp  the 
chalice,  you  are  raised  to  the  highest  dignity  on  earth. 
That  is  true.    You  are  taught  that  you  are  more  than  kings 
on  their  thrones,  or  ministers  in  their  cabinets.   That  is  true. 
You  are  taught  that  you  are  more  than  the  angels  or  arch- 
angel.   That  is  true.    Furthermore,  you  are  instructed  that 
it  is  by  no  choice  of  yours,  or  your  parents,  that  you  are 
raised  to  the  sacerdotal  dignity.   That  is  true.    For  you  are 
instructed  that  the  Divine  Master  applies  to  you  the  words 
He  applied  to  Mis  Apostles :  '  You  have  not  chosen  Me ; 
but  I  have  chosen  you.'    You  are  also  warned  that  no 
sanctity,   however  great,  can  be  deemed  commensurate 
with  so  high  an  office  ;  and  that  your  lives,  and  all  that 
is  connected  with  them,  your  talents,  abilities,  mental  and 
spiritual  faculties,  are  also  placed  in  pledge  with  Christ 
for  the  fulfilment  of  your  sublime  vocation.    Why  do  I 
insist  on  such  patent  and  palpable  truths  ?    Because  you 
will  be  tempted  to  deny  them.  Experience,  so  much  lauded 
as  a  successful  master,  is  also  a  most  dangerous  master. 
It  teaches,  we  know  ;   but  often  it  teaches  perilous  and 
subversive  doctrines.     And  the  worst  and  most  deadly 
temptation  of  your  lives  will  come  from  experience  the 
day  that,  looking  around  you  and  watching  the  ways  and 
lives  of  men,  you  will  utter  that  word  of  the  Psalmist : 
Omnis  homo  mendax  !  or  the  more  melancholy  verdict  of 
vSt.  Paul :  '  All  seek  their  own  interests  ;  not  the  interests 
of  Jesus  Christ  !  '     Beware  of  that  moment  ;  for  it  is  in 
that  moment  you  will  be  tempted  to  forget,  or  deny,  the 
sacred  principles  you  have  learned  in  these  halls.    You  will 
be  tempted  to  believe  that  your  sacred  office  is  not  a  mission 
and  vocation,  but  a  mere  profession  ;  and  that  you  are  at 
liberty  to  introduce  the  language,  and  the  customs,  and 
the  principles  of  the  world  into  that  sanctuary,  where  the 
maxims  of  the  Gospel  alone  should  be  recognised  and 
accepted.     You  will  stand  for  a  moment  half-paralysed 
with  the  spectacle  of  men  rushing  wildly  into  forbidden 
paths,  and  then,  panic-stricken,  you  will  be  tempted  to 
follow  the  herd  with  its  treasonable  cry  :  Eqo  d  Rex  Meus  ! 
If  you  harbour  that  temptation  for  a  moment,  in  that 


THE  DAWN  OF  THE  CENTURY  25 


moment  you  have  bartered  and  forfeited  your  birthright ; 
you  have  cancelled  the  charter  of  your  nobility ;  you  have 
revoked  your  oath  of  ordination ;  and  from  being  a  miles 
et  amicus  Christi  you  have  descended  to  be  the  slave  and 
sycophant  of  self. 

Hence  the  necessity  of  acquiring  here,  and  developing 
hereafter,  a  certain  phase  of  character,  which  I  can  only 
designate  as  '  individualism  '  You  must  study  to  be  self- 
centred,  self-poised  on  the  strong  summits  of  conscience,  not 
moving  to  left  or  right  at  every  breath  of  opinion.  This  is 
quite  compatible  with  that  modesty,  that  humility,  that 
gentleness  that  always  characterize  thoughtful  minds — 
minds  that  move  on  a  high  plane,  and  that  will  not  descend 
to  the  vulgarities  or  commonplaces  of  ordinary  men.  Priests 
of  this  class  or  calibre  never  forget  their  college  lessons. 
But  whilst  striving  in  remote  hamlets,  as  Workhouse  Chap- 
lains, or  even  in  the  slums  of  large  cities,  to  develop  them- 
selves intellectually  by  wholesome  and  judicious  studies, 
they  are  ever  sensible  of  the  gentle  whispers  of  their 
Master,  first  heard  here,  never  to  be  stifled  in  after  hfe — '  You 
are  the  light  of  the  world  !  You  are  the  salt  of  the  earth.' 
'  You  have  not  chosen  Me,  but  I  have  chosen  you  ! '  '  I  do 
not  any  longer  call  you  servants,  but  friends.'  '  Filioli  mei.' ' 
Ah,  these  are  the  '  burning  and  shining  lights  '  of  the  Church 
of  Christ,  within  whose  rays  men  shelter  themselves  for 
warmth  and  illumination ;  who  cannot  be  extinguished  in 
life  by  envy  or  hatred  or  criticism  ;  who  even  in  Death 
leave  behind  them  in  memory  a  certain  twilight  or  aurora, 
for  their  words  and  works  survive  them  ;  and  many  a  soul, 
recalling  them  from  the  peace  of  eternity,  justifies  the  pre- 
sumption in  the  words  of  the  Psalmist : — 

Thy  Word  was  a  lamp  to  my  feet  ; 
And  a  light  along  my  ways  ! 

Here  is  what  you  have  to  strive  after  ;  here  is  what  you 
have  to  attain,  if  you  desire  to  maintain  the  traditions  of 
the  Irish  Church  ;  and  to  be,  in  very  deed,  the  leaders  of  your 
people,  the  shepherds  of  your  flock  ! 

And  so  I,  passing  rapidly  into  the  evening  of  life,  say 


26  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


this  farewell  word  to  you  in  the  morning  of  your  days,  and 
in  the  dawn  of  the  century,  where  your  Ufe-work  shall  be 
placed.  The  intellectual  and  spiritual  energies,  gathered 
into  this  hall  to-night,  must  exercise  a  tremendous  influence 
in  that  future,  when  emancipated,  they  will  have  free  play, 
and  a  boundless  sphere  of  action.  It  is  a  pathetic,  yet 
consoling  thought  that,  when,  far  out  in  the  century,  our 
faces  shall  be  upturned  to  the  stars,  you  will  be  striving  for 
the  same  eternal  cause  as  that  for  which  we  shall  have  spent 
ourselves.  Nor  have  I  a  moment's  doubt,  that  when  the 
torch  falls  from  our  feeble  hands,  you  will  take  it  up  and 
carry  it  forward  through  all  those  years  that  are  sweeping 
towards  us  from  Infinity,  and  that  come  fraught  with  such 
solemn  issues  for  the  country  we  love,  the  Faith  to  which 
we  cling,  the  Church,  which  is  our  Mistress  and  our  Queen, 
and  Him,  who  is  our  Captain  and  our  King. 


[     27  ] 


THE  RISE  AND  PROGRESS  OF  HIGHER 
CRITICISM 

ELOHIM  AND  JEHOVA 

AN  incident  conned ed  with  these  words  occupies  a  unique 
position  in  the  history  of  modern  rationahstic  misinter- 
pretation of  Scripture.  As  we  saw  already,  it  was 
the  regular  appearance  of  the  one  and  the  other  alternately 
in  certain  passages  of  Genesis  that  suggested  to  the  uncon- 
scious founder  of  higher  criticism  the  central  idea  or  the 
germ  of  his  dangerous  theory.  Astruc,  indeed,  was  not  the 
first  to  notice  this  frequent  recurrence,  but  he  was  the  first 
to  make  it  the  basis  of  a  system.  He  thought  that  the  two 
largest  and  most  important  among  the  numerous  documents 
from  which  he  supposed  Moses  to  have  compiled  Genesis, 
could  be  distinguished  from  the  rest  and  from  each  other  by 
means  of  the  names  which  they  respectively  employed  tp 
denote  God.  His  hypothesis  was  that  the  series  of  Elohim 
passages,  if  put  together,  would  form  one  document,  which 
he  called  '  A '  ;  and  in  the  same  way  that  the  scattered 
Jehova  passages  would,  if  recombined,  represent  another 
document  to  which  he  gave  the  title  of  '  B.' 

In  our  Vulgate  version  almost  everywhere  the  first  of 
these  names  is  represented  by  Deus,  and  the  second  by 
Dominus.  Of  course  we  know  that  only  He  is  Dominus 
Who  is  Deus,  and  conversely,  hence  when  speaking  Latin 
we  may  often  use  these  divine  appellations  indiscriminately 
yet  there  are  special  occasions  when  we  feel  the  need  of 
speaking  precisely,  or  circumstances  in  which  we  employ 
these  words  respectively  in  order  to  connote  different  attri- 
butes or  distinct  aspects  of  the  One  Supreme  Being.  We 
then  select  the  fit  word  and  caU  God  Deus  for  one  reason, 
and  Dominus  for  another.  Long  ago  the  first  of  the  Latin 
Fathers  observed  that  in  the  version  of  Genesis  which  he 


28 


THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


was  accustomed  to  read,  a  distinction  of  this  kind  was  made. 
In  his  treatise  against  Hermogenes  he  says  : — 

Scriptura  nobis  patrocinatur,  quae  utrumque  nomen  ei  dis- 
tinxit  et  suo  tempore  ostendit.  Nam  Deus  quidem,  quod  erat 
semper,  statim  nominat  ;  in  principio  fecit  Deus  cneliim  et  terram  : 
ac  deinceps,  quamdiu  faciebat  quorum  Dominus  futurus  erat, 
Deus  solummodo  ponit ;  et  dixit  Deus,  et  fecit  Deus  ;  et  nnsquam 
adhuc  Dominus.  At  ubi  uni versa  perfecit,  ipsumque  vel  maxime 
hominem  qui  proprie  Dominus  intellecturus  erat,  tunc  etiam 
Dominus  nomen  adjunxit  :  et  accepit  Dominus  hominem,  etc. 

And  St.  Augustine  evidently  agrees  with  TertuUian,  for  he 
makes  the  following  remark  in  his  work,  De  Genesi  ad 
litter  am  : — 

Proinde  nuUo  modo  vacare  arbitror,  sed  nos  aliquid  et  mag- 
num aliquid  admonere,  quod  ab  ipso  divini  libri  hujus  exordio, 
ex  quo  ita  cceptus  est,  In  principio  fecit  Deus  crdum  et  terram, 
usque  ad  hunc  locum  nusquam  positum  est  Dominus  Deus,  sed 
tantum  modo  Deus  ;  nunc  vero  ubi  ad  id  ventum  est,  ut  hominem 
in  paradiso  constitueret,  eumque  per  praeceptum  operaretur  et 
custodiret,  ita  Scriptura  locuta  est,  et  sumpsit  Dominus  Deus 
hominem  quem  fecit  et  posuit  eum  in  Paradiso  operari  eum  et 
cnstodire  :  non  quod  supradictarum  creaturarum  Dominus  non  -- 
esset  Deus,  sed  quia  hoc  nec  propter  angelos  nec  propter  aha 
quae  creata  sunt,  sed  propter  hominem  scribebatur,  ad  eum 
admonendum  quantum  ei  expediat  habere  Dominum  Deum, 
hoc  est,  sub  ejus  dominatione  obedienter  vivere  quam  hcentiose 
abuti  propria  potestate,  nusquam  hoc  prius  ponere  voiuit,  nisi 
uoi  pcrventum  est  ad  eum  in  paradiso  collocandum,  operandum 
et  custodiendum. 

The  alternative  use  in  the  Latin  version  of  these  two 
names,  Dominus  and  Deus,  which  as  we  saw  above  respec- 
tively correspond  to  Jehova  and  Elohini,  suggests  at  once 
the  further  question  whether  these  Hebrew  words  also  differ 
in  signification,  and  if  so  in  what  that  difference  may  con- 
sist. Before  entering  into  details,  it  is  just  as  well  to  say  at 
once  that  a  certain  shade  of  meaning,  or  nuance,  is  expressed 
by  one  of  the  names  exclusively.  This  is,  indeed,  only  what 
we  should  expect ;  for  it  is  not  in  the  nature  of  human 
speech  that  any  two  words  such  as  Jehova  and  Elohim 
should  possess  for  an  appreciable  length  of  time  exactly 
the  same  signification  and  import.    Even  supposing  that 


RISE  AND  PROGRESS  CF  HIGHER  CRITICISM  29 


originally  they  were  equivalent  terms,  some  variance  in 
connotation  would  be  sure  to  arise.  Synonyms  serve  a 
purpose,  and  are  on  that  account  likely  to  be  both 
numerous  and  permanent ;  but  heteronyms  as  being  super- 
fluous are  of  necessity  but  few  and  fleeting.  For  language 
spontaneously  rids  itself  of  the  encumbrance  caused  by 
two  words  identical  in  meaning  and  application,  either  by 
quietly  dropping  one  of  them,  or  else  by  restricting  it 
henceforth  to  the  indication  of  a  definite  and  distinct  aspect 
of  the  common  subject.  If,  then,  the  material  word  is  not 
doomed  to  disappear,  it  must  change  part  of  its  meaning  ; 
it  must  develop  into  a  synonym,  if  it  is  to  continue  to  exist ; 
it  must  be  of  some  use,  if  it  is  to  retain  its  position. 

Hence,  were  we  merely  reasoning  from  a  universal  law 
of  the  evolution  of  language,  or  judging  the  present 
question  from  the  standpoint  of  antecedent  probability,  we 
should  say  that  seemingly  there  ought  to  be  some  difference 
in  meaning  between  these  two  Hebrew  names  for  God  ;  that 
Jehova  presumably  connoted  some  attribute  or  relationship 
which  Elohim  did  not,  or  vice  versa.  And  if  we  proceeded  to 
suppose  a  concrete  instance,  we  should  think  that  in 
Scripture  there  would  in  all  likelihood  be  found  certain 
contexts  to  which  one  of  these  divine  titles  would  be  more 
suitable  than  the  other. 

Assuming,  however,  for  the  present,  the  truth  of  what 
was  stated  above,  as  we  are  justilied  in  doing,  our  next  step 
naturally  is,  to  examine  the  actual  employment  of  these 
names  in  Genesis  and  in  the  first  six  chapters  of  Exodus. 
But  here  at  the  outset  a  question  in  textual  criticism 
confronts  us.  Are  we  sure  that  in  every  single  instance  the 
name  we  see  before  us  now  in  our  ordinary  Hebrew  Bibles,  is 
the  one  that  Moses  used  ?  The  question  is  an  indispensable 
one,  for,  unless  we  know  the  facts,  it  is  worse  than  useless 
to  speculate  about  their  probable  cause. 

In  reply  it  must  be  said,  that  in  a  small  number  of 
passages,  some  of  which  will  be  mentioned  later  on,  the 
reading  is  not  absolutely  certain.  But,  on  the  contrary,  in 
the  vast  majority  of  instances  the  MSS.  of  both  the 
Hebrew  and  the  Samaritan  texts,  and  those  of  the  ancient 


3©  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


versions  as  well,  agree  in  testifying  to  the  presence  either  of 
Elohim  or  of  Jehova,  and,  therefore,  in  all  these  places  the 
correctness  of  the  reading  is  sufficiently  and  satisfactorily 
guaranteed.  Consequently,  until  evidence  to  the  contrary 
has  been  produced — a  most  unlikely  contingency — scholars 
may  rest  assured  that  they  know  what  Moses  wrote. 

But  our  readers  will  not  suppose  from  what  has  been 
said  that  even  the  Hebrew  Masoretic  text  in  every  passage 
meets  with  unquestioning  acceptance.  For  instance,  in 
Genesis  xvi.  ii,  we  read  :  '  Thou  shaft  bring  forth  a  son  and 
thou  shaft  call  his  name  Ismael,  because  the  Lord  hath 
heard  thy  affliction.'  The  etymology  of  the  name  is  given 
here.  It  comes,  as  the  angel  explains  to  Agar,  from 
'  Isma '  =  heard,  and  from  '  El '  =  God.  But  if  an  etymology 
founded  partly  on  one  of  the  divine  names  be  taken  as 
an  indubitable  sign  that  originally  this  divine  name  and 
no  other  was  used,  then  it  follows  that  in  respect  of  this, 
the  Hebrew  text  has  been  corrupted,  because  here  it  reads, 
'  Jehova  [i.e.,  the  Lord),  has  heard  thy  affliction.'  It 
is  equally  evident  that  El  is  the  only  one  of  all  the  divine 
titles  that  can  be  the  second  component  of  the  name  of 
Agar's  son.  Professor  Hoberg  of  Freiburg  University 
attaches  great  importance  to  the  presence  here  of  the  word 
Jehova,  which  he  regards  as  proof  positive  of  deliberate 
alteration.  However,  with  all  due  respect  to  the  Catholic 
savant,  it  may  still  be  thought  that  inasmuch  as  El  and 
Jehova  are  only  different  names  for  the  same  God,  the  word 
we  read  now  in  Genesis  is  the  one  spoken  by  the  angel, 
particularly  if  a  probable  reason  for  the  selection  can  be 
assigned.^ 

On  the  other  hand  if,  as  Hoberg  thinks,  Jehova  was 
substituted  for  El,  can  he  explain  why  was  not  at  the  same 
time  Ismael  changed  into  Ismaia  r  Consistency  would 
demand  it.  The  name  Ismaia,  which  means  '  Jehova  heard,' 
does  actually  occur  in  i  Paralipomenon  xxvii.  19.  If  it 
were  introduced  into  Genesis  xvi.  11,  it  would  satisfy  the 
requirements  of  a  verbal  explanation  dependent  on  the 


!  See  Hengstenberg  on  the  Pentateuch,  vol.  i.,  p.  346. 


RISE  AND  PROGRESS  OF  HIGHER  CRITICISM        3 1 


name  Jehova  which  is  supposed  to  have  been  in  the 
immediate  context.  But  we  must  acknowledge  that  we 
have  no  confidence  in  conjectural  emendations  undertaken 
in  order  to  make  the  text  suit  a  theory,  and  that  we  derive 
anything  but  satisfaction  from  an  examination  of  Hoberg's 
work  in  this  respect.  In  the  edition  of  the  Hebrew  text, 
published  with  his  commentary  (so  far  as  we  can  remem- 
ber), wherever  the  Masoretic  edition  has  Jehova-Elohim  he 
eliminates  Jehova,  and  wherever  it  has  Jehova  alone  he 
substitutes  Elohim  for  it.  This  is  not  to  answer  the  critics, 
but  to  imitate  them  in  one  of  the  most  unjustifiable 
liberties  they  take.  We  all  know  that  if  they  see  the  name 
Jehova  where  they  do  not  like,  they  explain  its  appearance 
by  remarking  that  it  was  put  in  by  the  Redactor,  and 
calmly  erase  it,  or  perhaps  insert  Elohim  instead.  This  they 
call  a  restoration  of  the  original  text.  There  can,  however, 
be  no  reasonable  discussion  of  the  question  at  issue,  unless 
the  value  of  the  Masoretic  and  of  all  other  readings  be 
assayed  by  the  test  of  textual  criticism.  The  testimony  of 
Hebrew  and  Samaritan  MSS.,  of  versions,  of  quotations,  etc., 
may  not  produce  certainty,  but  in  opposition  to  them  or 
part  of  them — subjective  criteria  will  produce  nothing.  The 
traditional  text  must  be  employed  by  commentators,  and  if  ■ 
it  happens  that  in  some  places  we  cannot  see  why  one  divine 
name  is  written  rather  than  another,  let  it  be  so.  And  let 
us  say  so,  but  let  us  not,  of  our  own  authority,  alter  the 
text. 

It  may  very  easily  happen  in  some  passages  that  owing 
to  a  want  of  agreement  on  the  part  of  venerable  texts  and 
versions  uncertainty  should  exist  as  to  which  of  two  or  more 
readings  is  the  true  one,  or  again  it  may  happen  that  Jehova 
occurs  in  a  passage  where,  owing  to  our  experience  of  the 
use  of  the  divine  names,  we  expected  to  find  Elohim  ;  but  in 
either  case,  it  seems  to  be  our  plain  duty  to  accept  the  fact. 
Let  us  then  be  content  to  note  the  presence  of  various 
readings,  or  of  the  employment  of  a  name  which  is  not  in 
accordance  with  our  provisional  theory,  but  let  us  beware  of 
altering  a  passage.  What  right  have  we  to  do  it  ?  The 
value  of  the  Masoretic  edition  is  altogether  independent  of 


32  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


our  subjective  notions ;  of  course  everyone  will  admit  that 
owing  to  recent  advances  in  textual  criticism,  this  edition 
no  longer  enjoys  the  almost  boundless  confidence  that  many 
Protestants  and  some  Catholics  reposed  in  it,  but  such  a 
change  of  opinion  has  been  produced  solely  by  the  applica- 
tion of  objective  criteria.  It  is  not  the  offspring  of  imagi- 
nation. Parallel  passages,  quotations,  etc.,  have  been 
investigated,  and  thus  the  comparative  value  of  the  tradi- 
tional text  and  of  the  versions  has  been  ascertained.  But 
this  is  reasonable,  this  is  diametrically  opposed  to  the 
criticism  born  of  inner  consciousness. 

Extraordinary  powers  of  observation  are  not  required  to 
perceive  the  regular  recurrence  of  the  names  in  question 
throughout  some  sections  in  the  beginning  of  the  Pantateuch, 
and  also  their  appearance  in  one  and  the  same  section,  or 
even  in  a  manifestly  indivisible  passage  or  verse.  In  the 
course  of  their  microscopic  investigations  and  imaginative 
theories  the  higher  critics  of  the  Pentateuch  do  not  make 
the  latter  fact  prominent,  or  rather  they  pass  over  it  silently 
perhaps  because  it  would  tell  against  them.  As  regards  the 
first  fact  just  before  mentioned,  or  the  recurrence  in  alternate 
sections,  it  is  found  in  books  the  unity  of  which  is  not 
denied  by  them  ;  or  if  denied,  is  so  for  pretexts  altogether 
different.  Thus,  for  example,  in  cases  of  non-denial : 
Jeremias  writes  Jehova  563  times,  and  Elohim  140  times ; 
Esdras  writes  Jehova  23  times,  and  Elohim  55  times;  the 
author  of  3  Kings  has  Jehova  210  times,  and  Elohim  105 
times,  while  the  author  of  i  Paralipomenon  uses  Jehova 
141  times,  and  Elohim  in  times.  Yet  critics  do  not  dissect 
these  works.  This  shows  that  in  the  opinion  of  some  higher 
critics  the  employment  of  the  two  names  here  should  not  be 
regarded  as  implying  diversity  of  authorship.  Now  in  a  case 
of  denial,  nearly  all  the  rationalists  maintain  the  existence  of 
a  Deutero-Isaias  (though  indeed  some  of  them  actually  be- 
lieve in  a  Trito-Isaias,  and  a  few  of  the  more  adventurous 
spirits,  such  as  Cheyne  and  Gressmann,  are  not  satisfied  with 
even  this  number  of  hypothetical  authors)  ;  but  nevertheless 
in  the  commonly  alleged  two  independent  compositions 
(ch.  i.-xxxix.  by  Isaias,  ch.  xl.-lxvi.  by  the  Deutero-Isaias)  and 


RISE  AND  PROGRESS  OF  HIGHdR  CRI  TlCISM  33 


in  parts  of  both  that  some  even  of  the  most  enthusiastic 
followers  of  Astruc  do  not  dream  of  cutting  up,  Elohim  and 
Jehova  occur.    But  if  the  presence  of  both  names  is  com- 
patible with  homogeneity  in  the  case  of  parts  of  the  alleged 
books  of  Isaias  and  of  a  Deutero-Isaias,  why  should  it 
militate  against  the  unity  of  Genesis  ?    No  sane  man  would 
restrict  an  author  to  the  use  of  only  one  divine  name,  and 
demand  that  there  should  be  no  variety  of  diction,  under 
the  penalty  for  violation  of  having  the  book  belonging  to 
him  assigned  to  a  number  of  obedient  chimeras.  Otherwise 
it  would  go  hard  with  St.  Paul,  who  had  the  temerity  to 
write  Kvpio<;,  o  Kvpio^,   o  xvpto^  ij/moju,   o  Kvpto<i  Irjcrov;,  o 
Kvpio<j  XpiCTTo^,   o   Kvpio<i  I'qaov^  XpiaTo^,   XpiaTo<;  Irf<jfov<i 
o   Kvpt,o<;,    K-T-\-     The  following  remark   deserves  to  be 
quoted : — 

In  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  St.  Paul  uses  the  name  of 
Jesus  5  times,  Christ  33  times;  in  the  two  to  the  Corinthians, 
Jesus  16  times,  Christ  77  times  ;  in  Galatians,  Ephesians, 
Philippians,  and  Colossians,  Jesus  4  times,  Christ  87  times ;  in 
the  Epistle  to  Timothy,  Titus,  and  Philemon,  Jesus  twice,  Christ 
4  times — in  aU,  Jesus  27  times,  Christ  201  times.  In  the  two 
Epistles  to  the  Thessalonians,  however,  we  find  precisely  the 
reverse  usage,  Jesus  13  times,  Christ  4  times;  conclusive  proof," 
no  doubt,  of  diverse  authorship  ! 

It  is  a  pity  that  the  critics  have  not  analysed  these  two 
sets  of  passages,  and  treated  us  to  a  disquisition  about 
the  Jesuit  author  of  the  one  and  the  Christian  author  of 
the  other.  Or,  as  St.  Paul  writes  sometimes  Kvpio^ 
{= Jehova)  sometimes  ©eo?  {=  Elohim),  that  they  have  not 
divided  him  into  a  Jehovist  and  an  Elohist. 

It  was  shown  a  moment  ago  that  some  of  the  critics  are 
happily  inconsistent  ;  but  it  must  be  said  that  all  are  not. 
For  there  is  a  devoted  band  that  apparently  proposes  to 
extend  the  Pentateuchal  Jehova-Elohim-Theory  to  all  the 
other  Hebrew  writings.  We  mean  the  contributors  to 
Haupt's  critical  edition  of  the  Sacred  Books  of  the  Old 
Testament  and  to  its  English  translation,  The  Polychrome — or, 
as  it  is  familiarly  called,  The  Rainbow-Bible.  Here  the 
parts  selected  for  the  various  hypothetical  authors  are 
printed  each  on  a  ground  of  different  colour,  in  order  '  to 

VOL.    XV.  c 


34 


THE  IRISH  ECCLESIAS  nCAL  RECORD 


make  the  best  results  of  modern  scholarship  visible  at  a 
glance ' !  Our  readers  can  imagine  what  an  appearance 
must  be  presented  by  a  page  on  which  paragraphs,  half 
paragraphs,  quarter  paragraphs,  lines,  portions  of  a  line, 
and  single  words  are  printed  in  motley  hue.  The  plan  is 
thus  explained  in  the  prefatory  note  to  a  volume  (' Genesis '| 
of  the  first  series,  edited  by  Rev.  C.  J.  Ball,  Examining 
Chaplain  to  the  Bishop  of  London  : — 

The  combination  of  red  and  blue  :  PURPLE  [e.g.,  xv.  13) 
indicates  the  composite  document  (JE),  commonly  known  as  the 
Prophetic  Narrative  of  the  Hexateuch,  compiled  by  an  editor  or 
redactor  (RJE)  about  640  from  two  independent  sources  :  viz. 
(i)  the  Judaic  document  (J),  whose  various  strata  seem  to  have 
originated  in  the  Southern  Kingdom  after  850  B.C.,  and  (2)  the 
Ephraimitic  document  (E),  written  by  a  native  of  the  Northern 
Kingdom  prior  to  650  B.C.*  The  older  strata  of  J  (J\  about 
850  B.C.)  are  printed  in  dark  red  [e.g.,  vi.  i),  and  the  later  strata 
(}'■*,  about  650)  in  light  red  {e.g.,  vii.  i).  E  is  printed  in  blue 
(e.g.,  XX.  i).  Green  [e.g.  xxvi.  5)  is  used  for  the  Deuterono- 
mistic  expansions  (D'')  which  were  added  to  J  E  during  the  second 
half  of  the  exile  (560-540),  while  brown  marks  {e.g.  xlvi.  8)  later 
strata  of  the  Priestly  Code  (P),  the  main  body  of  which  (com- 
piled in  Babylonia  about  500  B.C.)  is  printed  black  without  any 
additional  colouring.  Chapter  xiv.,  which  seems  to  be  derived 
from  what  might  be  termed  an  Exilic  Midrash,t  has  been  printed 


*  Our  readers  will  notice  a  development  here.  Critics  have  at  length 
found  a  habitation  for  J,  because  he  describes  events  that  happened  in 
Southern  Palestine,  and  for  E,  because  he  shows  an  interest  in  matters 
connected  with  the  Northern  part  of  the  country. 

t  The  epithet  which  this  writer  thinks  good  enough  for  a  historical 
chapter  of  Scripture  cannot  be  allowed  to  pass  unnoticed.  Midrash,  a 
Rabbinical  term,  means  an  allegory,  a  hyperbole — whether  intrinsically 
considered  it  be  a  narrative,  or  the  interpretation  of  a  narrative.  (BuxLorf's 
Lexicon  Chaldaiciim,  ed.  Fischer,  p.  298,  where  several  explanatory  quotations 
are  given).  But  are  the  contents  of  Genesis  xiv.  mythical?  Are  they  of  late 
Babylonian  origin  ? 

It  is  scarcely  worth  while  to  observe  that  those  who  deny  the  Mosaic 
origin  of  Genesis  can  offer  no  proof  whatever  of  their  impudent  assertion 
respecting  its  fourteenth  chapter.  As  a  matter  of  course  they  confidently 
state  that  it  contains  conclusive  evidence  of  having  been  written  during  the 
exile,  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  none  of  them  has  ever  been  able  to  point  out 
that  evidence. 

'  Che  vi  sia  ciascun  lo  dice. 
Dove  sia  nessun  lo  sa.' 

The  obvious  reason  of  their  failure  is  that  no  such  evidence  exists.  If, 
indeed,  the  chapter  contained  a  reference  to  Ezechiel  or  Daniel,  or  any  indi- 
cation of  a  captive's  acquaintance  with  Babylonia  in  the  fifth  century  B.C., 
then  there  would  be  something  in  favour  of  tlie  critics  ;  but  unfortunately  for 
them,  the  only  knowledge  of  matters  Babylonian  that  it  manifests  is  about  a 


RISE  AND  PROGRESS  OF  HIGHER  CRITICISM  35 


in  orange.  Overlined  passages  represent  redactional  additions. 
Overlining  has  also  been  used  to  mark  tertiary  strata  of  J  (J*, 
about  B.C.  600,  e.g.  ii.  10),  in  distinction  from  J'^ 

Three  volumes  of  this  precious  Polychrome  Bible  were 
published  some  time  ago:  'Judges'  (Moore),  'Isaias' 
(Cheyne),  '  Psalms '  (Wellhausen).  Professor  Moore  in- 
forms his  readers  that  the  Book  of  Judges  is  largely  of 
post-exilic  date,  being  in  fact  part  of  a  comprehensive 
History  of  Israel ;  he  also  makes  the  interesting  announce- 
ment that  criticism  has  detected  among  its  sources,  an 
early  '  History  of  Israel  under  the  Judges,'  a  '  Judaic 
History,'  and  an  '  Ephraimitic  History,'  which  were 
variously  combined  by  different  redactors.  Professor 
Cheyne  requires  for  his  dissection  of  Isaias  besides  the 
ordinary  white  background  no  less  than  six  varieties  of 
colour.  This  is  no  doubt  an  exceedingly  liberal  use  of 
polychrome,  but  then  we  must  bear  in  mind  that  the  Oriel 
Professor  of  Scripture  is  a  very  high  critic.  Yet  even  he 
is  surpassed  by  Wellhausen.  At  first  sight,  however,  it  is 
impossible  to  know  how  the  Gottingen  Professor's  contri- 
bution was  admitted  into  the  series,  for  his  volume  is  all 
printed  in  plain  black  and  white,  without  so  much  even  as 
one  band  of  colour  or  a  single  tint  of  the  rainbow.  But 

campaign  in  Palestine  undertaken  by  a  Babylonian  king  and  his  allies  about 
twenty-two  centuries  before  the  Christian  era.  This  event  belonged  to  a 
period  four  generations  earlier  than  the  time  of  Moses.  The  description  of 
the  event  has  always  formed  part  of  the  book  written  by  him.  So  far  as  the 
unanimous  voice  of  the  past  testifies,  this  is  so.  Moses  presumably  got  his 
knowledge  from  existing  sources,  either  oral  or  written.  A  remarkable  event 
such  as  Chedorlahomor's  campaign  would  naturally  be  recorded  on  some  tablet, 
or  a  tradition  about  it  could  easily  be  preserved  by  Abraham's  immediate 
descendants.  There  was,  so  far  as  one  can  see,  no  more  need  of  a  revelation 
to  Moses  than  there  was  long  afterwards  in  somewhat  similar  circumstances 
to  St.  Luke,  who  says  of  himself  that  he  used  the  ordinary  means  to  obtain 
information.  If  perchance  there  was  any  error  or  misconception  on  the  part 
of  the  informant,  as  conceivably  there  might  be,  we  know  that  such  error 
remained  there.  It  could  nut  be  transmitted  to  the  inspired  writer.  He  would 
infallibly  discriminate  between  incorrect  and  true  statements,  and  eliminate 
all  the  former.  Nor  would  his  use  of  the  latter  imply  dependance  on  the 
human  source  from  which  he  received  it.  In  nowise  could  that  source  be 
regarded  as  a  voucher  for  the  correctness  of  anything  in  his  book.  It  was 
written  under  divine  guidance,  and  every  statement  contained  in  it  had  divine 
authority. 

Before  the  discoveries  recently  made  in  Assyria,  the  names  of  the  four 
kings  mentioned  by  Moses — Amraphel  of  Sennaar,  Arioch  of  Pontus,  Chedor- 
lahomor  of  Elam,  and  Thadal  of  nations— were  names  and  nothing  more.  No 
one  could  even  tell  their  meaning,  and  no  one  knew  anything  about  the  men 


36  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


Wellhausen  has  made  a  wonderful  discovery.  It  is  nothing 
less  than  this  :  '  The  entire  collection  of  Psalms  dates  from 
a  period  considerably  later  than  that  of  E  and  J,  in  fact  it 
was  the  hymn-book  of  the  second  temple.'  Comment  on 
this  is  unnecessary.  Wellhausen  has  outstripped  all  his 
associates,  after  this  the  inventors  of  E,  J,  P,  D,  etc.,  may 
retire. 

One  very  important  fact  has  to  be  remembered  in  con- 
nexion with  Genesis,  and  the  alternate  use  of  the  two  names 
in  some  of  its  parts.  It  is  that  only  these  two  names 
{Elohim  and  Jehova)  occur  in  the  history  of  the  primeval 
period,  Genesis  i.-xi.  inclusive.  In  the  remainder  of  the 
book,  which  contains  the  history  of  Abraham  and  his 
descendants,  other  names  are  also  found.  These  are  El 
{God)  with  its  compounds  El-Elion  and  El-Shaddai,  both  of 
which  connote  an  attribute.  Adonai  {Lord)  is  also  met  with, 
but  it  is  used  only  as  a  vocative,  or  in  addressing  God.  The 
two  names  we  are  concerned  with  are  the  oldest  and  the 


that  bore  them  beyond  what  was  recorded  in  the  fourteenth  chapter  of 
Genesis.  Those  who  beheved  in  Scripture  accepted  its  account  of  the  cam- 
paign of  these  allies  ;  those  who  did  not  believe  rejected  it.  To  some  of  the 
higher  critics,  viz.,  Knobel  and  Hitzig,  it  seemed  ridiculous  to  say  that  four 
kings  came  from  unknown  or  doubtful  regions  to  wage  war  in  Canaan,  while 
to  his  own  satisfaction  Grotefeud  explained  the  narrative  as  a  solar  myth,  and 
Noldeke,  who  is  still  lecturing  in  Strasburg,  looked  upon  it  as  'a  fragment  of 
a  post-exilic  romance  of  the  life  of  Abram.' 

But  now  a  great  change  has  come  about.  Assyriology  has  vindicated 
Scripture.  From  the  dim  and  distant  past  it  has  recalled  the  dynasty  of 
Elamite  kings  called  Kuduridcs  {from  the  first  part  of  their  compound  names, 
'  Kudur.'  which  means  '  a  servant  of),  that  once  held  Southern  Babylonia  in 
subjection.  For  in  one  of  his  inscriptions  Assurbanipal  mentions  that  when 
he  overran  Flam  and  took  Susa,  its  metropolis  (about  650  B.C.),  he  recovered 
there  the  image  of  the  goddess  Nana,  which  had  been  carried  off  from  Erech, 
in  Southern  Babylonia,  by  the  Elamite  king  Kudurnanhundi  (i  c,  servant  of 
the  god  Nanhundi)  1635  years  before,  i.e.,  -2285  B.C. 

To  speak  now  of  our  four  kings  individually. 

I.  Chedorlahomor  must  have  belonged  to  the  same  Elamite  dynasty.  In 
Genesis  xiv.  he  appears  as  the  head  of  the  confederate  kings  (vv.  5,  17),  and 
even  in  its  transformed  pronunciation  his  name  Chedorlaomor  (Hebrew)  or 
Xo^oWoyofios  {Sept.)  is  unmistakably  Elamite,  the  original  or  native  form 
being  Kudurlagamar,  '  the  servant  of  Lagamar,'  a  goddess  often  mentioned  in 
cuneiform  inscriptions  (see  Schrader's  Die  Kcilinschriften  mid  das  A.  T., 
p.  484,  3rd  ed.,  1902).  Ivudurlagamar  himself  is  not  mentioned  on  any  monu- 
ment discovered  up  to  this,  but  no  one  would  be  surprised  if  some  day  or 
other  a  tablei  bearing  this  monarch's  name  were  brought  to  light.  Stranger 
things  have  happened  in  Chaldea.  Indeed,  the  prestnt  curator  of  the  Imperial 
Ottoman  Museum  in  Constantinople,  Pere  Scheil,  O.P.,  published  in  the 
hcvne  Biblique  (October,  1896;  a  transcript  of  a  tablet  found  at  Larsa  on 
which  he  thought  he  could   read  Ku-dur-la-ukh-ga-mar,   and  Professor 


RISE  AND  PROGRESS  OF  HIGHER  CRITICISM  37 


most  frequently  employed.  Their  almost  rhythmical  recur- 
rence cannot  escape  the  notice  of  an  ordinarily  attentive 
reader.  And  as  he  knows  that  it  is  impossible  it  should  be 
the  outcome  of  blind  chance,  he  naturally  asks  what  can  be 
the  cause  of  the  phenomenon  ?  To  this  question,  as  our 
readers  may  easily  infer  from  the  foregoing  remarks,  two 
answers  have  been  given  ;  answers  diametrically  opposed 
one  to  the  other.  i.  'Dual  authorship,'  say  the  critics; 
'  one  writer  calls  God  Jehova,  and  another  calls  Him 
Elohim.'  2.  'Difference  in  the  subject-matter  of  those 
passages  respectively,'  say  the  defenders  of  tradition,  '  one 
and  the  same  author  in  some  places  uses  the  name  Jehova 
in  order  to  emphasise  his  mention  of  a  certain  divine  attri- 
bute, or  for  similar  reasons  ;  in  other  places,  where  such 
emphasis  is  not  needed,  he  uses  the  name  Elohim.' 

The  first  answer  is  of  an  extrinsic  character,  and,  to  say 
the  least,  is  the  merest  conjecture  ;  the  second  is  of  an 
intrinsic  character,  and  rests  on  tradition  and  on  induction. 

Hommel,  of  Munich,  approved  of  this  decipherment,  but  L.  W.  King,  of  the 
British  Museum,  one  of  the  best  Assyriologists  in  England,  maintains  that  the 
group  of  symbols  should  be  pronounced  Inukhsamar.  This  appears  to  be 
the  accepted  transliteration.  'See  it  from  a  photo  of  the  tablet  in  Ball's 
Light  from  the  East,  p.  68).  Some  months  before  Pere  Scheil  announced 
what  he  believed  to  be  a  discovery,  Mr.  Pinches,  late  of  the  British  Museum, 
stated  that  one  of  the  tablets  preserved  there  contained  the  names  of  three  of 
the  kings  mentioned  in  Genesis  xiv.,  viz.,  Kudurlagamar  or  Chedorlahomer, 
Eriaku  or  Arioch,  and  Todhula  or  Thadal.  The  tablet  is  dated  not  earlier 
than  the  fourth  century  B.C.,  but  the  inscription  it  contains  may  be  a  copy  of 
a  much  earlier  one,  as  is  the  case  with  the  '  Deluge  Tablets.'  Schrader  is 
inclined  to  agree  with  Pinches'  reading.  But  at  the  same  time  there  is  some 
uncertainty  ;  it  appears  to  be  not  Eri-aku,  but  Eri-eku,  or  something  similar. 
Agam.  the  name  which  they  take  to  stand  for  Kudur-lagamar,  should, 
according  to  Mr.  King,  be  read  Ku-dur-ku  mal  or  Ku-dur-ku-ku-mal,  and 
though  he  is  callei  King  of  Elam,  there  is  nothing  to  show  that  he  was  a  con- 
temporary of  Hammurabi.  It  is,  however,  very  probable  that  these  three  are 
the  kings  mentioned  in  Genesis  xiv.  The  names  may  have  been  copied 
incorrectly,  or  wrongly  deciphered.  At  all  events,  Cheyne  and  other  critics 
are  quite  mistaken  when  they  remark,  in  a  tone  of  bland  compassion, 
that  the  truth  of  Genesis  xiv.  is  not  yet  proved.  It  needs  no  proof,  or  rather 
it  admits  of  no  proof.  The  word  of  God  is  incapable  of  being  proved  true  by 
the  word  of  man.  It  is  just  the  reverse  of  what  the  critics  imagine,  and  the 
Assyrian  inscriptions  can  be  proved  ;  if  they  agree  with  Scripture,  they  are 
true.  To  us  believers  at  the  present  day  they  are  of  course  of  incalculable 
use,  as  illustrating  Scripture  or  enabling  us  to  understand  its  historical  state- 
ments better,  but  they  are  not  proofs  of  its  veracity. 

2.  Amraphel.  From  Genesis  xiv.  he  would  appear  to  have  been  the 
chief  vassal  of  Chedorlahomer.  Hommel,  Schrader,  and  Ball,  three  learned 
Assyriologists,  identify  him  with  Hammurabi,  or  Hamma-rapaltu.  If  they 
are  right,  as  there  can  be  no  doubt,  then  Amraphel  is  one  of  the  best  known 


38 


THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


Nor  is  this  the  only  difference.  There  is  also  a  marked 
contrast  between  the  manner  in  which  they  are  maintained, 
when  their  respective  champions  are  called  on  to  reply  to 
objections.  The  critics  alter  the  text,  they  transpose 
phrases,  they  remove  Jehovah  in  one  place  and  Elohim 
in  another,  or,  on  the  other  hand,  they  insert  them  ad 
lihihim  ;  whereas  the  believers  leave  the  text  untouched. 
This  reminds  one  of  a  well-known  episode.  Of  old  there 
was  a  king  before  whose  judgment-seat  two  women 
appeared,  each  of  whom  claimed  the  same  child  as  her 
own.  One  of  them  was  willing  to  divide  the  child  ;  '  Do  not 
kill  it,'  implored  the  other.  The  king  knew  thereby  which 
woman  was  the  child's  mother. — If  that  wise  king  returned 
to  life  now,  and  a  higher  critic  and  a  believer  in  Scripture 
were  to  come  before  his  tribunal,  the  one  contending  that  the 
authorship  of  the  Pentateuch  should  be  divided  among 
P,  E,  J,  R,  etc.,  the  other  demanding  that  it  should  be 
left  in  the  possession  of  Moses,  without   any  alteration 


monarchs  in  remote  antiquity.  A  great  many  of  his  inscvipiions  and  his 
portrait  are  in  the  British  Museum  (also  several  inscriptions  preserved  else- 
where), and  two  large  voli'mes  of  hv^  correspondence  have  been  published. 
Hammurabi  was  the  sixth  king  oi  the  first  Babylonian  dvna=t\'.  which  Sayce 
and  Hommel  have  shown  to  be  of  Arabian  origin.  He  reign;  1 1  fifty  five  years, 
and  apparently  it  was  he  aniteu  the  numerous  city  kingdoms  and  thus  founded 
a  Babylonian  empire.  Tne  exact  date  of  his  reign  is  noi  known,  but  the 
following  table  taken  from  flommel  p  Ancient  Hebreiv  Tradition  and  the  Monu- 
ments, wiJ  I  show  the  dates  proposed  by  some  leading  Assyriolcgists  : — Winckler 
(i88g)  2292-2237:  Winckler  (1894)  2314-2258:  Maspero  1  1896)  2304-2249: 
Delitzsch  (1891)  2287-2232:  Hilprecht  (1893)  2277-2222:  J 'ti|Br  ( i8>^i)  2139- 
2084:  Carl  Niebuhr  (1S96)  2081-2026:  Hommel  (1895)  1947-1892:  (1886) 
1923-1868.  Quite  recently  from  an  unexpected  quarter  more  light  has  been 
shed  on  the  rei'-;n  of  Hammuratji.  fn  January,  1002,  while  excavations  were 
being  made  at  Susa,  in  Persia,  or  ancient  Elam,  a  stone  w-as  dug  up  which 
bore  on  its  aide's  the  renowned  legislation  01  Hammurabi.  The  text  has  been 
translated  by  Pcre  Scheil,  and  afterwaid':  by  C.  H.  Johns,  Camt)ririge,  {The 
Oldest  Ciuir  of  J^nws  in  the  World,  Clark,  Edinburgh,  1903).  ."^ome  time  after 
the  expedition  mentioned  lu  Genesis  Hammurabi  overcame  Rim-Sin,  the  last 
King  of  Larsa  (Ellasar),  united  uudei  hi.-  own  sway  the  kingdoiiis  of  Southern 
Jbabylonia,  and  made  Babylonia  the  capital  ol  the  empire.  It  is  not  known  at 
what  time  the  monnment  inscribed  wivh  his  laws  was  carried  off  to  Elam. 

3.  Arioch  is  certainly  Eri-aku.  Tuere  is  still  extant  a  votive  tablet  o 
Eri-aku  (=n  servant  of  the  nwon-s;od) — see  Ihe  photo  of  it  in  T-aIVs  Li^ht  from 
the  East,  p.  67 — for  himself  and  his  father,  Kudurmabug  (s.  iv-ant  of  the  god 
Mabug),  King  of  Ur,  of  Sennaar,  and  .\ccad.  The  Elamite  vir.ivcy,  who  was 
generally  a  relative  of  the  king,  had  his  official  residence  in  I^ar:;L.  In  con- 
nection with  him  Schrader  remarks.  loc.cil.,p.  367,  '  Ob  der  Name  des  Konigs 
Arioch  von  Ellasar,  (ienesis  xiv.,  wie  vielfach  angenommen  wird,  auf  eine 
sumerische  Aussprache  Eri-Akn  des  semitisch-babylonischen  Namens  des 


RISE  AND  PROGRESS  OF  HIGHER  CRITICISM  39 


whatever  :  it  is  not  difficuit  to  forecast  what  the  decision 
of  the  monarch  would  be. 

The  purpose  of  the  present  article  is  to  set  forth  briefly 
the  reasons  generally  accepted  in  support  of  the  second 
answer,  or  to  explain  as  far  as  may  be  why  Elohim  is  found 
in  some  passages  and  Jehovah  in  others. 

As  regards  the  first  answer,  which  to  use  its  own  proud 
title  is  '  higher  criticism,'  we  need  only  to  remind  our 
readers  that  it  is  subdivided  into  four  rival  systems,  viz. : 
the  Old-Document  Theory,  the  Fragment  Theory,  the 
Supplement  Theory,  and  the  New-Document  ■  Theory, 
which  last  is  from  the  names  of  its  inventors  sometimes 
called  the  Graff-Wellhausen  one.  Much  as  these  contend- 
ing theories  may  differ  one  from  another  in  specific 
character,  they  all  agree  in  denying  to  a  greater  or  a  less 
extent  the  Mosaic  authorship  of  the  Pentateuch.  This 
opposition  to  Scripture  and  Tradition  is  presupposed  by  the 
four,  it  is  the  hypothesis  on  which  they  rest,  the  first 
principle  they  have  in  common.  It  is  only  in  their  respec- 
tive attempts  to  account  for  the  origin  of  Genesis  that 
divergency  arises.  In  other  words,  their  negative  oi  destruc- 
tive tendency  is  one,  their  positive  or  constructive  methods 
are  many.  As  regards  their  own  intrinsic  merits,  three  of 
them  have  been  exhibited  in  preceding  articles  and  the 
fourth  will  be  shown  also  in  due  time,  so  that  now  we  are 
free  to  consider  what  principle  of  selection  guided  Moses  in 
his  employment  of  Elohim  and  Jehova. 

The  following  tables  are  designed  to  show  the  number  of 
times  that  each  of  the  names  occurs  in  those  chapters  of 

Rim-Sin,  Konigs  von  Laisa,  zurucki^eht,  ist  ausserst  unsicher.'  At  some  time 
daring  their  eighty  years  occupation  of  Babylonia  the  invaders  appear  to  have 
pushed  on  and  to  have  conquered  Chanaan,  kings  of  which  paid  them  tribute 
for  thirteen  years  (Genesis  xiv.  4).  On  bricks  found  in  Ur  of  the  Chaldees 
Kudur-Mabug  styles  himself  '  King  of  the  West  Country'  (Amurru).  which 
includes  Chanaan.  Some  scholars  hazard  the  conjecture  that  the  king  we 
call  ("hedorlahomer  had  two  names,  Kudurlagamar  and  Kudurmabug,  but  Ihis 
is  a  point  on  which  it  is  better  to  wait  for  some  further  discoveries. 

4.  Thadal.  Nothing  more  is  known  about  this  king.  But  though  in  his 
title,  '  King  of  nations,'  the  last  word  be  a  correct  translation  of  '  goiin,'  which 
is  now  found  in  the  Hebrew  text,  it  is  thought  that  the  text  is  corrupt,  and 
that  '  Gutium  '  was  the  original  reading.  '  King  of  nations  '  makes  no  sense, 
but  '  King  of  Gutium  '  is  intelligible.  The  Guti,  frequently  mentioned  in  the 
cuneiform  inscriptions,  were  a  powerful  tribe,  and  dwelt  near  the  river  Zab. 
Their  country  would  almogt  correspond  to  the  modern  Kurdistan. 


40  THE   IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


the  Pentateuch  where  it  occurs.  The  tables  will,  it  is 
hoped,  be  found  fairly  accurate,  for  they  have  been  com- 
piled with  the  assistance  of  the  best  Hebrew  Concordance 
(Mandelkern's,  Leipzig,  1896). 

ELOHIM 


(N.B. — -The  Roman  numeral  indicates  the  chapter  of  the 
book,  the  Arabic  shows  how  often  this  divine  name  occurs  in  it.) 


Genesis 

Exodus 

Leviticus 

Numbers 

Deuteronomy 

T 
1. 

30 

T 
1. 

3 

T  T 
II. 

I 

T  7  T 

VL 

I 

T 
1. 

14 

TT 
11. 

3 

TT 
11. 

5 

IV. 

I 

X. 

2 

TT 

II. 

7 

TTT 
111. 

12 

TTT 
111. 

15 

"V  T 

XI. 

2 

XT'  T  7 

XV. 

4 

TTT 

111. 

5 

TV 
1  V . 

I 

TV 
IV. 

5 

ST  T  7  T  T  T 

XVIII. 

4 

XT'  TTT 

XVI. 

2 

IV. 

23 

V 
V . 

4 

V 
V  . 

4 

XIX. 

10 

XT'  XT'  T 

XXI. 

I 

V. 

10 

VT 
V  1. 

7 

VT 
V  1. 

3 

SJ'  SZ 

xx. 

2 

XT"  XT'  T  T 

XXII. 

7 

VI. 

14 

VTT 
V  11. 

2 

^7TT 
V  11. 

2 

XXI. 

10 

XT"  XT"  TTT 

XXIII. 

3 

■f  TTT 

Vil. 

15 

VTTT 
V  111. 

2 

VTTT 
V  111. 

0 

XXII. 

2 

XT'  "VT"  TT  7 

XXIV. 

I 

\7TTT 
Viil. 

10 

T  Y 
lA. 

Q 
0 

T  Y 
1  A. 

3 

"XT  XT"  TTT 

XXIII. 

5 

XT'  "V  T  T 

XXV. 

I 

TV 

IX. 

0 

0 

Y  VTT 
A.  V  11. 

9 

Y 
A. 

7 

"VT  "VT"  TTT 

XXIV. 

2 

"XT'  XT'  T  TT  T 

XXVII. 

I 

A. 

9 

YT  Y 

2 

YTTT 
Alii. 

4 

XT'  XT'  T  T 

XXV. 

6 

"V  T 

XL 

10 

Y  Y 

5 

Al  V . 

I 

XXVI. 

5 

XT'  T  T 

Xll. 

20 

Y  YT 
A.A.1. 

II 

Y 

A  V . 

2 

V  TTT 

Alll. 

10 

Y  YTT 

5 

YA7T 
AVI. 

I 

"V  T1  7 

AiV. 

10 

A.  Al  V . 

0 

Y'V/TT 
A  V  11 . 

I 

xv. 

10 

Y  YA7 

I 

Y\/TTT 
A  V  111. 

12 

XT'  TTT 

XVl. 

lo 

Y  Y\7T 
JviV  V 1. 

I 

YT  Y 
Al  A. 

3 

"V  T  TTT 

Xvll. 

0 

Y  Y\7TT 
AA.  V  11. 

2 

Y  Y 
AA. 

9 

XVIII. 

9 

Y  Y^/TTT 
A  A  V  1 1 1 . 

Q 
0 

Y  YT 
AAl. 

I 

XIX. 

18 

XXX. 

7 

XXII. 

I 

XX. 

7 

XXXI. 

13 

XXIII. 

2 

XXL 

5 

XXXII. 

5 

XXIV. 

3 

XXII. 

I 

XXXIII. 

3 

XXIX. 

3 

XXIII. 

10 

XXXV. 

8 

XXXI. 

2 

XXIV. 

5 

XXXIX. 

I 

XXXII. 

4 

XXV. 

5 

XL. 

I 

XXXIV. 

3 

XXVI. 

15 

XLI. 

9 

XXXV. 

I 

XXVII 

9 

XLII. 

2 

XXVIIL 

n 

XLIII. 

2 

XXIX. 

9 

XLIV. 

I 

XXX. 

15 

XLV. 

4 

XXXI. 

7 

XLVI. 

3 

XXXII. 

2 

XLVIII. 

6 

XXXIII. 

2 

L. 

5 

Totals  189 

104 

50 

23 

339 

RISE  AND  PROGRESS  OF  HIGHER  CRITICISM        4 1 


JEHOVA 


Genesis 

Exodus 

Leviticus 

Numbers 

Deuteronomy 

IV. 

10 

III. 

7 

I. 

9 

I. 

4 

I. 

24 

V. 

I 

IV. 

17 

II. 

II 

II. 

3 

II. 

16 

VI. 

5 

V. 

7 

III. 

10 

III. 

16 

III. 

12 

VII. 

3 

VI. 

14 

IV. 

17 

IV. 

8 

IV. 

29 

VIII. 

3 

VII. 

14 

V. 

8 

V. 

12 

V. 

24 

IX. 

1 

VIII. 

22 

VI. 

14 

VI. 

15 

"I. 

22 

X. 

2 

IX. 

24 

VII. 

17 

VII. 

3 

VII. 

20 

XI. 

5 

X. 

21 

VIII. 

18 

VIII. 

13 

VIII. 

13 

XII. 

7 

XI. 

6 

IX. 

II 

IX. 

17 

IX. 

33 

XIII. 

6 

XII. 

19 

X. 

15 

X. 

12 

$v 

21 

XIV. 

1 

XIII. 

15 

XI. 

3 

XI. 

20 

XI. 

18 

XV. 

7 

XIV. 

17 

XII. 

2 

XII. 

9 

XII. 

26 

XVI. 

8 

XV. 

16 

XIII. 

I 

XIII. 

2 

XIII. 

II 

XVII. 

I 

XVI. 

22 

XIV. 

II 

XIV. 

23 

XIV. 

n 

XVIII. 

10 

XVII. 

8 

XV. 

4 

XV. 

28 

XV. 

15 

XIX. 

7 

XVIII. 

6 

XVI. 

12 

XVI. 

26 

XVI. 

23 

XX. 

I 

XIX. 

18 

XVII. 

9 

XVII. 

6 

XVII. 

II 

XXI. 

3 

XX. 

9 

XVIII. 

7 

XVIII, 

16 

XVIII. 

19 

XXII. 

5 

XXII. 

2 

XIX. 

22 

XIX. 

4 

XIX. 

9 

XXIV. 

19 

XXIII. 

3 

XX. 

5 

XX. 

10 

XX. 

7 

XXV. 

4 

XXIV. 

II 

XXI. 

8 

XXI. 

9 

XXI. 

7 

XXVI. 

7 

XXV. 

I 

XXII. 

21 

XXII. 

16 

XXII. 

I 

XXVII. 

3 

XXVII. 

I 

XXIII. 

36 

XXIII. 

8 

XXIII. 

16 

XXVIII. 

4 

XXVIII. 

7 

XXIV. 

12 

XXIV. 

5 

XXIV. 

7 

XXIX. 

4 

XXIX. 

13 

XXV. 

6 

XXV. 

6 

XXV. 

4 

XXX. 

3 

XXX. 

13 

XXVII. 

18 

XXVI. 

6 

XXVI. 

20 

XXXI. 

2 

XXXI. 

5 

XXVII. 

12 

XXVII. 

10 

XXXII. 

I 

XXXII. 

13 

XXVIII. 

13 

XXVIII. 

40 

XXXVIII.  3 

XXXIII. 

8 

Y  YTY 

0 
0 

XXIX. 

20 

XXXIX. 

8 

XXXIV. 

16 

XXX. 

7 

XXX. 

18 

XLIX. 

I 

XXXV. 

12 

XXXI. 

23 

XXXI. 

19 

XXXVI. 

4 

XXXII. 

18 

XXXII. 

9 

XXXVIII  I 

XXXIII 

5 

XXXIII. 

8 

XXXIX. 

II 

XXXIV. 

4 

XXXIV. 

7 

XL. 

14 

XXXV. 

3 

XXXVI. 

6 

Totals  145 

397 

307 

399 

549 

The  number  of  occurrences  is  summed  up  somewhat 
differently  by  Pere  Prat,  S.J.,  in  Vigouroux'  Did.  de  la 
Bible,  and  as  the  matter  is  of  importance  we  think  it  better 


42 


THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


to  quote  his  computation.  In  addition  to  Mandelkem's  Pere 
Prat  has  used  Furst's  Concordance,  and  his  figures  are  : — 


Gen. 

Exod. 

Levit. 

Num. 

Deut. 

Elohim 

103 

129 

53 

27 

372 

J eh ova 

134 

359 

303 

386 

233 

J  ehova-Elohim    20  i  —  —  — 

The  learned  writer  then  remarks  :  '  Ces  resultats  ne  sont  et  ne 
peuvent  etre  qu'approximatifs ;  sans  parler  des  erreurs  pres- 
que  inevitables  dans  un  travail  de  ce  genre,  les  concordances 
ne  sont  pas  toujours  d'accord  et  les  editions  different  assez 
souvent.' 

In  addition  to  these  tables,  it  may  be  well  to  illustrate, 
by  means  of  the  respective  contexts,  the  alternate  appear- 
ance of  the  two  names  from  Genesis  i.  to  Exodus  vi.,  from 
which  chapter  forth  sections  in  which  Elohim  recurs  with 
any  marked  frequency  are  rare  (as  xiii.  17-19,  xviii.  1-7), 
and  Jehova  is  nearly  always  used. 

Genesis  i.-ii.  3  (the  account  of  the  six  days'  work  of  creation) 
contains  Elohim  35  times  (once  preferably),  Jehova  not  once. 

Genesis  ii.  4-iv.  (the  history  of  Adam  and  Eve,  Cain  and  Abel) 
contains  Jehova  10  times,  J  ehova-Elohim  20  times,  Elohim  alone 

4  times  (3  times  in  the  mouth  of  the  serpent). 

Genesis  v.  (the  genealogies  from  Adam  to  Noe)  contains 
Elohim  5  times  (once  preferable),  Jehova  once,  verse  29. 

Genesis  vi.  1-8  (the  history  of  the  first  part  of  the  deluge) 
contains  Jehova  5  times,  Elohim  not  once. 

Genesis  vi.  g-22  (the  same  continued)  contains  Elohim  5 
times,  Jehova  not  once. 

Genesis  vii.,  1-15  (the  same  contmued)  contains  Jehova  twice, 
Elohim  not  once. 

Genesis  vii.  6-viii.  19  (the  same  concluded)  contains  Elohim 

5  times,  Jehova  once  (vii  16). 

Genesis  viii.  20-22  (the  sacrifice  of  Noe)  contains  Jehova  3 
times,  Elohim  not  once. 

Genesis  ix.  i-ig,  28,  29  (the  covenant  with  Noe)  contains 
Elohim  6  times  (once  preferably),  Jehova  not  once. 

Genesis  x.  20-27  (f^^  misconduct  and  curse  of  Chanaan) 
contains  Jehova-Elohim  once,  Elohim  once. 

Genesis  x.  (the  genealogies  of  the  sons  of  Noe)  contains  Jehova 
twice,  Elohim  not  at  all. 

Genesis  xi.  1-9  (the  confusion  of  tongues)  contains  Jehova 
5  times,  Elohim  not  once. 


RISE  AND  PROGRESS  OF  HIGHER  CRITICISM  43 


Genesis  xi.  10-32  (the  genealogy  of  Abram)  contains  neither 
name. 

Genesis  xii.,  xiii.  (the  early  history  of  Abram)  contains  Jehova 
13  times,  Elohim  not  once. 

Genesis  xiv.  (the  war  with  Sodom)  contains  El-Elyon  (=:the 
Most  High  God)  4  times,  Jehova  once. 

Genesis  xv.,  xvi.  (the  further  history  of  Abram),  xv.  contains 
Jehova  5  times,  Adonai  twice  ;  xvi.  contains  Jehova  8  times, 
El-Roi  once.    Neither  chapter  contains  Elohim. 

Genesis  xvii.  (the  same  contiuned)  contains  Elohim  9  times, 
Jehova  once,  El-Shaddai  once. 

Genesis  xviii.,  xix.  (history  of  Abraham  :  visit  of  the  angels, 
destruction  of  Sodom)  contains  Jehova  17  times,  Adonai  6  times, 
Elohim  twice. 

Genesis  xx.  (Abraham's  experiences  in  Gerara)  contains 
Jehova  once,  Elohim  6  times,  Adonai  once. 

Genesis  xxi.  (Isaac  and  Ismael,  etc.)  contains  Jehova  3  times, 
Elohim  II  times,  El-Olam  =  Everlasting  God)  once. 

Genesis  xxii.  (sacrifice  of  Isaac)  contains  Jehova  5  times, 
Elohim  5  times. 

Genesis  xxiii.  (Sara's  death)  contains  Jehova  not  at  aU, 
Elohim  once. 

Genesis  xxiv.  (Isaac's  marriage)  contains  Jehova  14  times, 
Jehova-Elohim  5  times,  Elohim  alone  once. 

Genesis  xxv.  1-18  (Abraham's  death,  generations  of  Ismael), 
contains  Elohim  once,  Jehova  not  at  all. 

Genesis  xxv.  19-xxvi.  35  (generations  of  Isaac,  his  experi- 
ences in  Gerara)  contains  Jehova  11  times,  Elohim  once. 

Genesis  xxvii.  (blessing  of  Jacob)  contains  Jehova  3  times, 
Elohim  twice. 

Genesis  xxviii.  1-9  (departure  of  Jacob)  contains  Elohim 
once,  El-Shaddai  once,  Jehova  not  all. 

Genesis  xxviii.  10-22  (Bethel)  contains  Jehova  3  times, 
Jehova-Elohim  once,  Elohim  7  times. 

Genesis  xxix.-xxxii.  (Jacob  and  Laban)  contains  Jehova 
10  times,  Elohim  25  times,    El  occurs  in  xxxi.  13. 

Genesis  xxxiii.  (Jacob  and  Esau)  contains  Elohim  3  times  ; 
Jehova  does  not  occur  here  nor  before  xxxviii. 

Genesis  xxxiv.  (Jacob  at  Sichem),  no  divine  name. 

Genesis  xxxv.  (Jacob  at  Bethel,  deaths  of  Rachel  and  Isaac) 
contains  Elohim  8  times,  El  twice,  El-Shaddai  once. 

Genesis  xxxvi.  (generations  of  Esau),  no  divine  name. 

Genesis  xxxvii.  (Joseph's  dreams  and  bondage),  no  divine 
name. 

Genesis  xxxviii.  (Juda  and  Thamar)  contains  Jehova  3  times, 
Elohim  not  at  all. 

Genesis  xxxix.-xli.  (history  of  Joseph)  contains  Jehora  9 


44  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


times,  Elohim  il  times  (9  of  which  in  conversations  with 
Egyptians). 

Genesis  xhi.-xlviii.  (history  of  Joseph  continued)  contains 
Elohim  25  times,  El  once,  El-Shaddai  thrice,  Jehova  not  at  all. 

Genesis  xlix.  (Jacob's  blessing),  contains  Jehova  once.  El 
once,  El-Shaddai  once. 

Genesis  1.  (deaths  of  Jacob  and  Joseph)  contains  Elohim 
5  times,  Jehova  does  not  occur. 

Exodus  i.,  ii.  contains  Elohim  8  times,  Jehova  not  at  all. 

Exodus  iii.  contains  Elohim  15  times,  Jehova  7  times. 

Exodus  iv.  contains  Elohim  5  times,  Jehova  17  times. 

Exodus  v.  contains  Elohim  4  times,  Jehova  7  times. 

Exodus  vi.  1-3  contains  Elohim  once,  Jehova  thrice. 

Elohim  is  the  ordinary  name  for  God,  and  is  therefore  used 
where  no  need  of  emphasis  exists.  It  occurs  2,570  times. 
It  may  or  may  not  take  the  article  ;  thus  we  find  Elohim  and 
Ha-Elobim  in  the  Old  Testament  just  as  we  find  /cupto? 


2  Elohim  has  the  termination  of  a  masc.  plural  {cp.  Cherub,  plural 
Cherubim  ;  Seraph,  p/;(m/  Seraphim),  but  Elohim  is  not  a  plural  noun.  This 
is  certain,  because  almost  invariably  the  adjective  or  the  verb  agreeing;  witb 
Elohim  is  in  the  singular  (e.g.,  Elohim  creates,  Elohim  is  one).  See  for 
details,  Gesenius,  Grammar  and  Thesaurus.  It  is  best  to  regard  the  termina- 
tion as  that  of  a  plural  of  excellence  {Clark's  Diet.,  Encycl.  Bibl.,  Spurrell). 
Such  a  usage  was  not  unknown  in  eariy  times;  the  Tell-El-Amarna  letters 
address  the  Egyptian  monarch  as  '  ilani  '=my  gods. 

There  is  a  singular  form  '  Eloah '  (occurring  fifty-seven  times),  used  in 
poetry  and  in  very  late  prose.  Some  scholars  regard  it  as  an  artificial  word 
coined  from  Elohim,  others  as  a  genuine  singular.  But  whichever  view  be 
the  true  one,  this  at  least  is  certain  that  the  plural  form  is  no  indication  of 
polytheism  in  primitive  ages,  though  Robertson  Smith  asserts  that  '  the 
Elohim  of  a  place  originally  meant  all  its  sacred  denizens,  viewed  collectively 
as  an  indeterminate  sum  of  indistinguishable  beings '  !  See  for  proof  of  the 
opposite  Clark's  Diet.,  the  Eucyc.  Bibl.,  and  Lagrange's  Religions  Semitiqucs. 
It  is  also  certain  that  the  rare  union  ot  a  plural  predicate  or  attribute  with 
Elohim  where  it  means  God  found  little  favour.  As  Gesenius  says.  De 
Pentatiueho  Sa>iiaritano,p.  58:  'Ac  primum  Samaritani  doctrinam  de  uno  Deo 
ita  urgent  et  inclamant,  ut  vel  minimum  polytheismi  suspicionem  cane  pejus 
et  angue  defugiant,  unde  verba  non  est  Deus,  nisi  unus — in  liturgiis  eurum 
utramque,  quod  dicunt,  paginam  faciunt.  Jam  vero  opera  danda  erat,  ue  in 
ipsis  Bibliis  polytheismi  remanerent  vestigia.  Hoc  igitur  consilio  quatuor 
Pentateuchi  locis  (Gen.  xx.  13,  xxx.  53,  xxxv  7;  Ex.  xx.  9),  quibus 
Elohim  cum  plurali  construitur,  singularem  numerum  substitunnt.  Eadem 
superstitio  dicam,  an  veteris  linguae  ignoratio  est  apud  scriptores  judaicos 
sequiores  qui  ejusmodi  offendicula  non  minus  studiose  devitant,  et  antiquiorum 
scriptorum  loca  quae  forte  in  suum  usum  convertunt,  eundem  in  modum  corri- 
gere  non  dubitant,  2  Sam.  vii.  23  (Chron.),  Ex.  xxxii.  4,  8  (Neh.  ix.  18).' 
We  may  add  that  what  Gesenius  remarks  about  the  Samaritan  text  of  Genesis 
applies  also  to  the  Septuagint,  Peshitta,  Vulgate,  and  Arabic  versions.  They 
all  have  a  singular  verb  in  the  three  passages  referred  to. 

N.B — Exod.  XX.  9,  and  some  other  passages  quoted  by  Gesenius  in  his 
Thesaurus  are  irrelevant. 


RISE  AND  PROGRESS  OF  HIGHER  CRITICISM  45 


and  0  icvpLo<;  in  the  new.  It  would  be  difficult  to  indicate  the 
difference  between  Elohim,  which  admits  of  definition  or 
determination,  and  Jehova,  which  admits  of  none,  more 
clearly  than  has  been  done  by  Girdlestone  in  his  Hebrew 
Synonyms.  His  words  are  : — '  The  Hebrew  says  the  Elohim, 
the  true  God,  in  opposition  to  all  false  Gods  ;  but  he  never 
says  the  Jehova,  for  Jehova  is  the  name  of  the  true  God  only. 
He  says  again  and  again  my  God  (Elohim),  but  never  my 
Jehova.  for  when  he  says  my  God  he  means  Jehova.  He 
speaks  of  the  God  of  Israel,  but  never  of  the  Jehova  of 
Israel,  for  there  is  no  other  Jehova.  He  speaks  of  the  living 
God,  but  never  of  the  living  Jehova,  for  he  cannot  conceive 
of  Jehova  as  other  than  living.' 

In  addition  to  this,  it  may  be  observed  that  there  are 
two  passages  which  show  clearly  the  superiority  of  the  tetra- 
grammaton,  viz.,  Josue  xxii.  22,  and  Psalm  1.  (xlix.)  i.  In 
the  first  one  the  Reubenites  and  others  say  to  the  Princes 
of  Israel,  '  El,  Elohim,  Jehova — El,  Elohim,  Jehova,  hu 
/oiefl'=The  Mighty  One,  Elohim,  Jehova — the  Mighty 
One,  Elohim,  Jehova,  He  knoweth.  The  climax,  which  is 
so  striking  in  the  original,  has  unfortunately  not  been 
preserved  by  the  Vulgate  (' Fortissimus  Deus  Dominus, 
Fortissimus  Deus  Dominus,  ipse  novit ').  In  the  second 
passage  Asaph  says,  '  El,  Elohim,  Jehova.'  Here,  too,  the 
ascending  series  is  plain,  but  the  Vulgate  has  '  Deus  deorum 
Dominus.' 

If  a  person  were  to  examine  all  the  relevant  passages,  he 
would  arrive  at  the  following  resiilts  in  connection  with  the 
use  of  Elohim  and  Jehova.  The  classification  of  the  instances 
has  been  taken,  but  with  some  modifications,  from  the 
greatest  Catholic  work  on  the  subject,  Reinke's  Beitrdge. 
The  instances  tliemselves  have  been  verified. 

I.  When  the  covenant  with  Israel  is  the  subject  of 
discourse,  Jehova  is  the  divine  title  employed  (the  only  text 
of  this  kind  in  which  Elohim  alone  occurs  is  Psalm.  Ixxvii. 
(Ixxvii.)  10).  For  the  same  reason,  where  the  law,  the 
decalogue,  the  commands  are  mentioned,  Jehova  is  the 
usual  designation  of  God.  Since  the  one  true  God  made 
known  His  wih  to  Israel,  it  is  Israel's  duty  to  obey  Him. 


46 


THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


Hence  the  frequent  expression,  '  halach  aharei  Jehova.' 
In  this  sense,  '  halach  aharei  Elohim  '  never  occurs.  But  it 
is  used  to  express  the  service  and  worship  of  false  gods, 
'  halach  aharei  Elohim  aherim  '  means  to  go  after  strange  gods, 
and  thus  we  find  the  expression,  to  go  after  Baal,  Astoreth,  etc. 
Again,  we  read  of  the  just  as  clinging  to  Jehova  (never  to 
Elohim)^  and  of  the  unjust  as  falling  away  from  Jehova 
(never  from  Elohim).  He  who  sins  against  God  sins  against 
Jehova  (the  solitary  instance  where  sin  against  Elohim 
occurs,  Genesis  xxxix.  lo,  is  only  an  apparent  exception, 
for  a  Hebrew  when  speaking  to  a  Gentile  about  God  calls 
Him,  not  Jehova  but  Elohim).  In  like  manner,  a  man  is 
said  to  do  evil  in  the  eyes  of  Jehova  (never  in  those  of 
Elohim  ;  once  in  those  of  the  Elohim,  i.e.^  i  Par.  xxi.  7), 
whereas  a  person  that  acts  well  is  said  to  do  what  is  right 
in  the  eyes  of  Jehova  (never  in  those  of  Elohim). 

2.  In  the  oaths  and  the  vows  of  Israelites,  Jehova  is  the 
name  of  God.  To  the  first  class  there  is,  indeed,  one 
exception,  Isaias  Ixv.  16  :  '  He  who  swears  in  the  land 
swears  by  the  true  Elohim ' ;  but  it  is  an  exception  that 
proves  the  rule,  for  Elohim  is  determined  by  an  adjective. 
To  the  second  class  there  is  also  one  sole  exception,  Genesis 
xxxi.  13,  but  this  is  due  to  the  circumstance  that  an  Israelite 
addresses  a  non-Israelite. 

3.  The  Israelite  must  worship  Jehova.  Elohim  is  found 
with  this  verb  only  in  Exodus  iii.  12.  It  is  for  the  obvious 
reason  that  Moses  has  not  yet  heard  the  incommunicable 
name  Jehova,  the  revelation  of  which  is  described  in  verse  14, 
ihid.  We  read  of  a  feast  of  Jehova,  but  never  of  a  festival 
day  of  Elohim ;  thus  the  Passover,  the  Paschal  Lamb  are 
spoken  in  connexion  with  Jehova  exclusively. 

4.  An  altar  of  the  true  God  is  called  the  altar  of  Jehova, 
but  never  the  altar  of  Elohim,  It  may  be  observed  that 
there  is  one  and  only  one  passage  in  which  such  an  altar  is 
spoken  of  as  belonging  to  El,  Genesis  xxxv.  i,  but  the 
reason  for  departing  here  from  the  uniform  practice  of 
saying  Jehova's  altar  is  easily  seen.  Jacob  is  commanded 
to  build  an  altar  to  El  at  the  place  which  he  had  named  Bethel 
(Beth -El,  House  of  God),  on  account  of  the  divine  appari- 


RISE  AND  PROGRESS  OF  HIGHER  CRITICISM  47 


tion,  Genesis  xxviii.  22.  Again  we  see  that  the  Tabernacle 
and  the  Temple  are  almost  invariably  spoken  of  as  Jehova's. 
So,  too,  we  find  the  *  House  of  Jehova.'  Only  in  four 
places  we  do  read  of  the  House  of  Elohim,  viz.,  2  Parahpo- 
menon  xxxiv.  19,  Psalms  xlii.  5,  lii.  10,  15.  Elsewhere  in 
this  connexion  Elohim  takes  the  article  or  some  other 
determining  adjunct.  On  the  other  hand,  Beth-Elohim 
is  applied  to  the  temple  of  a  false  god  (Judges  xvii.  5, 
I  Paralipomenon  x.  10),  but  it  would  be  impossible  to  call 
it  Beth- Jehova. 

5.  Sacrifice  is  offered  to  Jehova,  never  to  Elohim — 
unless  the  name  is  accompanied  by  something  which  restricts 
its  application  to  the  one  God.  Thus  in  Genesis  xlvi.  i, 
Jacob  offered  sacrifice  to  the  Elohim  of  his  fathers,  and  the 
Hebrews  in  Egypt  say  '  let  us  go  and  sacrifice  to  our 
Elohim.'  On  the  other  hand,  sacrifice  to  false  gods  may  be 
designated  simply  as  sacrifice  to  Elohim. 

6.  Priests  of  God  are  always  priests  of  Jehova.  Not 
even  in  a  single  instance,  are  they  styled  priests  of  Elohim. 
Again,  true  prophets  are  prophets  of  Jehova,  never  prophets 
of  Elohim.  And  the  solemn  prophetic  exordium  is,  '  Thus 
saith  the  Lord,'  or  Neum- Jehova,  but  in  no  instance  Neum- 
Elohim.  And  when  Almighty  God  is  introduced  as  speak- 
ing, the  customary  formula  is,  '  Thus  saith  the  Lord,'  Co- 
amar- Jehova ;  but  Co-amar-Elohim  does  not  occur.  And 
what  we  may  call  the  '  stylus  theocratiae  '  attests  the  same 
usage.  As  Israel's  King  God  speaks  of  Himself  as  Jehova, 
but  as  Elohim  simply  never.  This  holds  good  of  His  earthly 
representative,  who  is  called  Jehovah's,  but  not  simply 
Elohim's,  anointed.  Wherever  Elohim  is  used  in  reference 
to  either,  a  determinative  accompanies  it.  Lastly,  in  count- 
less passages  God  says  of  Himself  '  I  Jehova '  ;  in  none  does 
He  say  '  I  Elohim.' 

Other  classes  and  many  other  instances  could  be  quoted, 
but  these  are  amply  sufficient  for  our  purpose.  They  show 
clearly  that  the  Hebrews  made  a  great  difference  between 
Elohim  and  Jehova. 

Reginald  Walsh,  o.p. 


[    48  ] 


THE  IRISH  COLLEGE  IN  PARIS  DURIMG  THE 
FRENCH  REVOLUTION 

r^HE  Revolution  in  France  at  the  close  of  the  eighteenth 


1  century  marks  an  epoch  in  the  history  of  that 
country,  and  of  the  world.  Hence  historians  of  all 
countries  study  its  progress,  its  causes,  and  its  results. 
French  men  of  letters,  in  particular,  have  been  indefatigable 
in  collecting  all  that  can  throw  light  on  that  period  of  their 
country's  history.  In  recent  years  two  works,  models  of 
patient  research,  have  been  published,  which  cannot  fail  to 
be  invaluable  to  students.  One  is  entitled  Repertoire  General 
des  Sources  Manuscrites  de  riiistoire  de  Paris  pendant  la 
Revolution,  par  Alexandre  de  Tuetey.  Paris  1890-1902. 
6  vol.,  4to.  The  others  bear  the  title.  Bibliographic  de 
rHistoire  de  Paris  pendant  la  Revolution  Francaise,  par 
Maurice  Tourneux.  Paris  1890-1900.  3  vols.,  4to.  The 
latter  gives  an  account  of  printed  sources,  the  former  of  the 
manuscript  sources,  of  the  history  of  Paris  during  the 
Revolution,  and  indicates  the  libraries  and  the  archives 
where  they  may  be  found. 

During  the  Revolution  there  were  two  Irish  establish- 
ments in  Paris,  which  frequently  became  the  object  of  public 
attention,  and  in  consequence  many  documents  concerning 
them  are  still  extant  in  various  public  collections.  Thanks 
to  the  guidance  received  from  the  two  works  just  mentioned, 
the  present  writer  has  been  able  to  consult  some  of  those 
documents,  and  to  obtain  a  fuller  knowledge  of  the  fortunes 
of  the  two  colleges  during  the  revolutionary  period.  His 
purpose,  therefore,  in  the  present  paper  is  to  bring  together 
certain  details  concerning  the  part  which  the  two  Irish 
Colleges  in  Paris  had  in  the  events  of  that  period,  and  he 
trusts  they  will  not  be  devoid  of  interest  to  the  readers  of 
the  I.  E.  Record. 


When  the  States-General  met  in  May,  1789,  the  task 
which  lay  before  them  was  to  provide  a  remedy  for  the  evils 


I 


THE  IRISH  COLLEGE  IN  PARIS 


49 


under  which  France  was  groaning.  The  three  estates  ,  soon 
formed  the  project  of  merging  themselves  into  one  body, 
which  took  the  name  of  the  National  Assembly.  The 
Assembly  resolved  to  give  to  France  a  new  Constitution, 
which,  it  was  hoped,  would  strengthen  the  throne,  while 
it  guaranteed  the  liberty  of  the  people.  But  the  country 
was  crushed  beneath  the  weight  of  a  great  debt,  and  an 
annual  deficit  in  its  Budget.  To  provide  a  remedy  for  this 
state  of  things  many  expedients  were  suggested.  At  length 
Necker  proposed  that  citizens  possessed  of  means  should 
contribute  one-fourth  of  their  income  to  relieve  the  pressing 
necessities  of  the  exchequer.  The  proposal  was  supported 
by  Mirabeau,  and  adopted  by  the  Assembly. 

The  expedient  proved  ineffectual,  but  it  led  to  an  act  of 
generosity  on  the  part  of  the  Irish  College  in  Paris  which 
received  honourable  mention  in  the  Assembly,  and  is 
recorded  in  the  Parliamentary  archives  in  the  following 
terms,  under  the  date  8th  October,  1789^ : — 

Count  Lally-ToUendal,  on  behalf  of  the  Community  of  Irish 
Students  established  at  the  Estrapade,  rue  du  Cheval-Vert, 
announced  a  patriotic  gift  of  plate  and  silver  vessels  which  they 
had  handed  in  at  the  Exchange,  at  the  Mint  of  Paris,  on  24th 
and  28th  September  last,  as  is  shown  by  the  receipts  laid  on 
the  table.    Count  Lally-Tollendal  spoke  as  follows  : — 

'  The  students  and  clerics  of  the  Irish  College  established  in 
Paris,  rue  du  Cheval-Vert,  charge  me  to  lay  at  the  feet  of  the 
king,  and  of  the  National  Assembly,  the  product  of  all  their 
plate,  and  of  all  the  silver  vessels  of  their  church.  They  point 
out  to  me  that  their  offering  seems  to  them  too  small  to  warrant 
them  to  address  it  directly  to  your  President.  It  is  in  truth 
the  widow's  mite  ;  but  they  give  much,  for  they  give  all  they 
possess.  Moreover,  they  point  out  to  me,  that  in  their 
poverty  they  feel  too  happy  to  offer  to  France  this  small  tribute 
of  their  gratitude  for  her  benefits.  I  know  their  hearts, 
gentlemen,  I  guarantee  their  sentiments,  and  I  share  them. 
Bound  to  them  by  the  ties  of  a  common  origin,  conducted 
hither,  all  of  us,  a  century  ago  by  our  fidelity  to  the  worship  of 
our  fathers  and  the  line  of  our  kings,  we  have  sworn  the  same 
sentiments  to  our  new  Fatherland  and  to  the  prince  who  has 
adopted  us.  Never,  gentlemen,  has  any  of  us  proved  false  to 
these  sentiments,  and  we  never  will.    I  lay  upon  the  table  this 


^Archives  Parlcmentitires  proces  verbal  dc  I'asscmblec  Nationah,  Tom. 
V.  n  95..  p.     8th  Oct  ,  1789. 

VOL.    XV.  I, 


50  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


receipt  of  the  Director  of  the  Mint ;  and  I  am  happy  to  raise 
my  voice  once  more  in  this  assembly,  to  offer  you  tfxe  homage 
of  an  act  of  patriotism. 

'Gentlemen,  in  any  other  circumstances,  as  you  wUl  readUy 
understand,  I  should  never  have  had  the  tementy  to  speak  of 
myself  personally,  but  I  ask  your  permission  to  associate  myself 
to  my  ancient  race,  and  to  join  my  contribution  to  theirs,  and 
to  lay  upon  this  table  the  quarter  of  my  income,  as  the  following 
declaration  testifies  : — 

'  I  declare  that  I  deliver  up  to  the  Royal  Treasury  as  a  con- 
tribution a  quarter  of  my  income,  and  even  more,  viz. — 3,000 
livres  of  the  present  year's,  and  1,000  livres  of  next  year's 
income,  as  well  as  as  a  pension  of  one  thousand  crowns,  which  I 
possess,  and  which  represents  a  capital  of  36,000  francs,  arising 
from  a  deposit  which  my  unhappy  father  left,  before  his  death, 
in  the  hands  of  Mademoiselle  Dillon,  and  which  she  delivered 
to  the  late  king,  and  he  ordered  to  be  handed  over  to  me,  but 
which  was  only  delivered  to  me  in  the  reign  of  the  present 
king,  and  by  his  order.  I  feel  doubly  bound  to  make  this 
sacrifice  when  I  call  to  mind  that  the  personal  justice  of  the 
king,  and  the  manifest  interest  of  the  nation  have  saved  for  me 
this  small  remnant  from  the  bloody  catastrophe,  wherein  the  loss 
of  my  fortune  was  the  only  thing  I  should  not  have  thought 
about. 

'  At  Versailles,  8th  October,  1789 

'  Signed.  Lally-Tollendal.' 

Sacrifices  such  as  that  of  Lally-Tollendal  were  insufficient 
4o  make  up  the  deficit  in  the  Royal  Treasury.  The  National 
Assembly  was  soon  compelled  to  seek  other  and  more 
violent  remedies.  Meantime  popular  excitement  went  on 
increasing,  and  it  was  resolved  to  celebrate  a  national 
festival  in  1790  on  the  first  anniversary  of  the  fall  of  the 
Bastille.  The  Champ-de-Mars  was  selected  as  the  site  of 
the  festivities,  and  an  altar,  called  the  Altar  of  Fatherland, 
was  erected  upon  it.  There,  on  the  14th  July,  the  King, 
attended  by  the  Queen,  met  the  members  of  the  National 
Assembly  ;  a  Te  Deum  was  sung.  In  the  presence  of  a 
great  concourse  of  people,  the  King  swore  to  be  faithful  to 
the  New  Constitution.  When  the  ceremony  was  over  the 
Altar  of  Fatherland  remained  on  the  Champ-de-Mars  as  the 
emblem  of  the  national  aspirations.  In  an  evil  hour  for 
1  heir  own  tranquillity  the  students  of  the  Irish  College  had 


THE  IRISH  COLLEGE  IN  PARIS 


51 


the  temerity  to  tamper  with  it.  There  are  various  accounts 
of  the  incident,  which  took  place  on  6th  December,  1790. 
According  to  one  account  the  Irish  students  were  engaged 
in  a  game  of  football  on  the  Champ-de-Mars  ;  one  of  their 
number,  named  Charles  O'Reilly,  in  the  heat  of  the  game 
came  in  contact  with  the  altar,  and  upset  the  statute  of 
liberty  which  stood  upon  it.  According  to  another  account'"* 
thirty  or  forty  students  from  the  Irish  College,  rue  du 
Cheval-Vert,  tore  down  the  inscriptions  on  the  altar,  and 
threw  stones  at  the  National  Guard.  The  people  assembled 
in  crowds,  and  the  lives  of  the  students  were  in  imminent 
danger,  when  they  were  saved  by  the  intervention  of 
Lafayette,  who  chanced  to  be  passing  at  the  head  of  a 
body  of  troops.  In  a  letter,  dated  9th  December,  and 
published  in  the  Mercure  de  France  of  i8th  December,  a 
graphic  account  of  the  occurrence  is  given.  It  runs  thus : — 

On  Monday,  some  Irish  students  having  dined  at  Chaillot, 
went  to  the  Champ-de-Mars.  One  of  them  leaned  against  the 
Altar  of  Fatherland.  The  sentinel  ordered  him  to  move  off. 
He  did  not  understand  French,  and  remained  where  he  was. 
The  sentinel  insisted  ;  some  others  of  those  young  men  arrived, 
and  a  dispute  arose  between  them  and  the  sentinel,  and 
they  struck  him.  Immediately  bands  of  workingmen  and  of 
inhabitants  of  the  Gros-Caillou  flocked  to  the  spot.  The 
students  were  dispersed.  Six  of  them  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
mob,  who,  in  accordance  with  the  new  justice  and  moraUty, 
wanted  to  hang  them  on  the  spot.  M.  de  Lafayette,  with  one 
hundred  horse,  hastened  to  the  scene,  and  prevented  this  crime, 
the  bare  possibility  of  which  makes  one  shudder.  The  six 
unfortunate  students  were  dragged  to  the  Hotel-de-Ville,  and 
interrogated,  and  it  is  reported  they  have  been  imprisoned. 
Yesterday  thirty  popular  pamphlets,  cried  up  over  the  capital, 
informed  the  people  that  those  students  were  certainly  aristocrats 
who  had  attempted  a  counter-revolution  by  profaning  the 
Champ-de-Mars. 

So  far  the  writer  in  the  Mercure  de  France. 

In  consequence  of  this  event  popular  indignation  was 
excited  against  the  Irish  establishments.  The  superiors 
were  alarmed,  and  applied  to  the  municipal  authorities  for 
protection.  M.  Bailly,  Mayor  of  Paris,  granted  their  request, 
and   in   the   following  letter  he  issued   instructions  to 


'  See  Tuetey,  Rep.  Genie.  Vol.  II.,  p.  423. 


52  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


M.  de  Lafayette  to  take  measures  for  the  protection  of  the 
British  estabHshments. 

'jth  December,  1790. 
Sir, — You  have  been  informed  at  the  sime  time  as  the 
Municipal  Body  of  what  took  place  yesterday  at  the  Champ- 
de-Mars.  The  Irishmen  who  were  the  occasion  of  it  have 
been  examined,  as  well  as  all  those  who  could  depose  to  the  facts 
of  the  case.  It  is  admitted  that  thev  were  guilty  of  an 
escapade  which  is  actually  being  punished.  To-day  the  Irish, 
Scotch,  and  English  establishments,  which  the  people  are 
accustomed  to  look  on  as  one,  fear  the  resentment  of  the 
populace  which  this  incident  may  have  excited.  I  beg  of  you 
to  give  orders,  and  to  take  the  most  efficacious  measures  for  the 
protection  of  their  houses  and  persons.  Their  houses  are  situated 
nearly  all  in  the  same  quarter  ;  one  in  rue  des  Carmes,  and  this 
has  been  the  first  to  ask  for  protection,  the  three  others  are  in 
rue  du  Cheval-Vert,  rue  de  St.  Victor,  and  rue  des  Postes." 

The  protection  of  M.  de  Lafayette  was  effectual,  for,  as 
we  shall  see,  the  Irish  establishments  continued  to  exist  for 
some  time  longer. 

II 

But  already  certain  measures  had  been  decreed  in  the 
National  Assembly,  the  effects  of  which  were  felt  by  the 
Irish  Colleges.  These  were  the  confiscation  of  ecclesiastical 
property,  and  the  civil  constitution  of  the  clergy.  By  the 
first  of  these  measures,  which  was  decreed  in  November, 
1789,  all  Church  property  throughout  France  was  confiscated 
for  the  benefit  of  the  nation,  and  early  in  1790  a  large 
portion  of  that  property  was  set  up  for  sale.  The  agents  of 
the  Government  regarded  the  British  establishments  as  in- 
cluded in  the  decree  of  confiscation.  But  the  superiors 
presented  a  petition  to  the  Ecclesiastical  Committee  of  the 
Assembly,  pointing  out  that  those  establishments  were 
foreign  in  their  origin  and  in  their  purpose,  and  formed  no 
part  of  the  property  of  the  Church  of  France. 

On  behalf  of  the  Irish  College  the  following  Memorandum 
was  presented  in  August,  1790  : — 

Lord  Fitzgerald,^  who  interested  himself  on  behalf  of  the 

Corvt  ipmidancc  de  M.  Bnilly,  Maire  dc  Paris,  avec  M .  de  Lafaycltc. 
Fol.  109,  Bibliotheque  Nat.,  MSS.  fonds  franqais  11,697. 

Lord  Robert  Fitzgerald,  Minister  Plenipotentiary  at  the  British  Embassy 
in  Paris 


THE  IRISH  COLLEGE  IN  PARIS 


53 


Scotch,  would  have  used  all  his  influence  on  behalf  of  the  Irish 
priests,  his  compatriots,  but  the  latter  preferred  to  rely  on  the 
loyalty  of  the  noble  nation,  which  for  nearly  two  centuries  has 
afforded  them  an  asylum  in  the  cities  of  Paris,  Nantes,  Bordeaux, 
Toulouse,  and  Douai.  Now  the  citizens  of  those  several  Depart- 
ments will  bear  testimony  to  the  utility  of  these  priests,  who  in 
case  of  need,  supply  the  place  of  the  parish  priests  and  curates, 
and  act  as  private  chaplains. 

These  establishments,  without  being  a  burthen  to  the  State, 
furnish  in  time  of  war  chaplains  and  interpreters  to  the  French 
armies,  as  MM.  d'Orleans,  du  Guichan,  de  la  Motte-Picquet,  and 
Rochambeau  can  testify.  The  French  Colonies  also  experience 
the  utility  of  these  establishments. 

The  Irish  priests  established  in  Paris,  in  the  house  known  as 
the  Lombard  College,  invoke  with  confidence  the  testimony  of 
the  parish  priests  and  citizens  of  the  Department.  The  Mayor 
holds  in  his  hands  offers  of  service  which  become  more  and  more 
necessary. 

The  Superior  of  this  house  is  a  agent-general  for  the  Irish 
Catholics,  who  invest  their  money  in  France,  in  preference  to  any 
other  country,  in  consequence  of  the  attachment  which  those 
priests  foster  in  the  hearts  of  their  fellow-countrymen. 

When  the  colleges  without  exercise  were,  in  1764,  made 
subject  to  the  Board  of  Administration  of  Louis  le  Grand,  the 
Irish  establishment  was  excepted  ;  and  the  Government  recog- 
nising the  necessity  of  a  special  regime  for  foreigners,  was 
pleased  to  refer  to  a  particular  tribunal  acquainted  with  their 
usages,  their  matters  in  dispute,  to  be  determined  free  of 
expense.  Doubtless,  an  establishment  respected  under  the  old 
regime  will  be  still  more  respected  under  the  happy  revolution 
which  shall  preserve  fraternity  between  the  citizens  of  the  two 
empires. 

These  priests  enjoy  this  house  by  full  right  of  ownership, 
legally  acquired,  confirmed  by  letters  patent  duly  registered, 
and  strengthened  by  possession  for  120  years.  During  the  course 
of  their  studies  they  subsist  on  funds  annually  received  from 
Ireland.  For  these  reasons,  the  Irish  priests  will  not  require 
the  intervention  of  the  British  Ambassador,  and  they  rely  with 
confidence  on  the  justice  and  honour  of  the  National  Assembly, 
and  request  the  honour  of  its  protection. 

The  gentlemen  of  the  Committee  will  be  good  enough  to 
observe : — 

1°.  That  the  Catholics  of  Ireland,  who  number  two  millions, 
cannot  avail  themselves  of  home  education,  because  they 
would  have  to  abjure  their  faith  in  order  to  be  admitted  to  the 


Colleges  sans  exercise  were  those  whose  students   attended  lectures 
outside  their  own  haJls. 


54 


THE  TRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


University  of  Dublin.  They  are,  therefore,  under  the  necessity 
of  making  their  studies  in  France,  and  considerable  sums, 
annually  coming  from  abroad  for  the  support  of  a  thousand"* 
students,  increase  the  circulation,  and  merit  the  attention  of  the 
French  legislator. 

The  English  Government  at  the  present  moment  makes 
attractive  offers  to  hinder  the  emigration  of  Cathohcs,  and  to 
keep  their  money  in  the  country.  They  will  certainly  succeed  if 
the  Superior  of  the  Irish  priests  is  not  authorised  to  contradict 
the  Court  Gazetteers,  who  repeat  with  affectation,  '  That  the 
petition  of  Lord  Fitzgerald  has  not  been  favourably  received  ; 
and  that  all  foreign  establishments  will  be  suppressed  in 
France.'  Now,  this  assertion  has  caused  alarm  and  consternation 
amongst  the  Catholics  of  Ireland,  who  have  ceased  to  send  the 
moneys,  without  which  the  students  could  not  subsist,  nor  meet 
the  engagements  they  have  contracted  with  their  furnishers. 

2°.  That  the  Irish  priests  established  in  Paris  never  compete 
with  the  French  clergy  for  any  offices  whatever,  as  they  cannot 
leave  their  own  country  until  they  have  attained  their  majority. 
They  are  ordained  priests  before  commencing  their  philosophy, 
and  they  are  bound  to  return  as  soon  as  they  have  finished 
their  studies.' 

On  14th  September,  1790,  the  Ecclesiastical  Committee 
gave  a  favourable  reply  to  the  foregoing  memorandum,  and 
declared  that  the  Irish  College,  being  a  house  of  education, 
was  exempt  from  the  operation  of  the  law  confiscating 
ecclesiastical  property. 

Soon  after  this  Dr.  Walsh  addressed  the  following 
memorandum  to  the  Ecclesiastical  Committee'' : — 

The  Superior  of  the  Irish  priests,  rue  des  Carmes,  has  the 
honour  to  inform  the  Committee  that  he  has  notified  to  the 
Bishops  of  Ireland  the  decision  of  the  14th  September  past, 
which  is  to  the  effect  that  the  Committee  is  of  opmion  that  this 
house  is  excepted  in  the  Decrees  of  14th  and  15th  April,  and 
that  it  IS  entitled  to  continue  the  management  and  administration 
of  its  property. 

That  he  is  charged  by  the  Bishops  to  express  to  the  Com- 
mittee their  very  respectful  gratitude,  and  to  add  that  their  joy 
will  be  complete  when  they  learn  that  the  opinion  of  the  Com- 
mittee has  been  confirmed  by  the  National  Assembly.  Now  a 
decree  to  this  effect  is  very  urgent. 


*  The  number  of  Irish  ecclesiastical  students  then  in  France  was  about 
348     See  Tlie  Irish  College  in  Paris,  p.  132. 

I  Archives  Nalionales,  Papers  of  the  Ecclesiastical  Committee,  D.  XIX. 
30-472. 


THE  IRISH  COLLEGE  IN  PARIS 


55 


i^.  Because  the  Irish  Parliament  will  meet  in  a  short  time, 
and  the  English  Government,  seeking  to  keep  money  in  the 
country,  will  use  all  its  influence  to  pass  a  bill  for  home  educa- 
tion, with  the  object  of  inducing  the  Catholics  to  renounce 
their  establishments  in  France.  But,  timentes  Danaos  et  dona 
ferenies,  they  will  reject  this  insidious  offer  if  the  Assembly  is 
pleased  to  decree  the  preservation  of  their  establishments. 

2°.  The  trades-people  who  supply  this  house  eagerly  await 
this  decree,  because  it  will  authorise  the  payers  of  the  Public 
Funds  to  pay  the  dividends,  as  they  have  reached  the  letter  L.^ 

The  Bishops  of  Ireland  also  merely  await  that  decree  to  for- 
ward the  sums  which  this  house  requires  to  meet  its  engagements. 

3°.  That  decree  will  attract  many  Irish  investors  to  France, 
because  individuals  will  have  confidence  in  the  inviolability  of 
their  property,  when  the}'  see  the  property  of  the  body  which 
represents  their  nation  respected. 

The  Superior  has  the  honour  to  observe  that  this  house  has 
nothing  in  common  with  any  foreign  Religious  whatever,  nor  with 
the  English  and  Scotch  of  Paris.  These  latter  ask  permission  to 
sell  in  order  to  leave  France.  On  the  contrary,  the  Irish  only 
ask  to  attach  themselves  to  it  more  and  more.  The  Committee 
is  therefore  requested  to  take  into  consideration  the  number,  the 
utility,  and  the  (civisme)  patriotic  sentiments  of  the  Irish  priests 
making  their  studies  in  France,  and  to  establish  the  basis  of  their 
tranquillity  by  promptly  decreeing  the  preservation  of  their 
principal  house,  the  Lombard  College. 

OBSERVATIONS    FOR  THE  REPORTER 

1°.  That  the  Irish  EstabHshments  interest  two-thirds  of  the 
people  of  Ireland.  The  sun  which  shines  above  the  horizon  of 
France  will  soon  enlighten  the  neighbouring  countries,  and  it  is 
to  be  presumed  that  those  two-thirds  will  not  long  endure  the 
fetters  with  which  they  are  loaded  by  a  third,  which  is  made  up 
of  foreign  usurpers. 

Those  two-thirds  are  excluded  from  all  offices,  civil  and 
military.  They  have  not  the  right  to  choose  a  single  representa- 
tive, and  they  obey  laws  made  without  their  consent,  and  often 
to  their  prejudice. 

Those  two-thirds  will  feel  the  rights  and  the  dignity  of  man, 
and  wiU  throw  off  the  yoke  of  such  thraldom.  What  then  will 
become  of  those  fleets  which  menace  Europe,  when  deprived  of 
the  provisions  and  of  the  sailors  furnished  by  Ireland  ?  What 
would  be  the  condition  of  the  commerce  of  England  witho  ut  the 
raw  material  which  Ireland  furnishes  in  abundance  ?  Doub  t  not, 
if  Ireland  becomes  independent  of  England,  France  will  hare 


*  The  initial  of  Lombards. 


56  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


nothing  to  fear  from  her  rival,  who  shall  be  humbled  without 
it  being  necessary  to  strike  a  blow. 

The  English  Government  detests  the  Revolution  which 
regenerates  France,  and  it  will  do  all  in  its  power  to  hinder  Irish 
students  from  coming  to  imbibe  in  our  schools  the  principles 
which  sooner  or  later  will  cause  the  germ  of  liberty  so  natural 
to  man  to  burst  forth.  France  is,  therefore,  interested  both  by 
humanity  and  by  sound  policy  to  preserve  the  foreign  establish- 
ments, to  say  nothing  of  the  lustre  and  the  glory  of  becoming 
the  centre  and  the  Athens  of  the  sciences. 

2°.  The  plan  of  M.  of  Autun^"  might  suit  French  establish- 
ments, and  yet  be  ruinous  to  those  of  foreigners.  If  the  latter 
were  thrown  into  the  whirlwind  of  periodical  elections,  it  is 
evident  the  superiors  would  possess  only  a  precarious  authority, 
and  like  the  Ministers  of  the  Ancien  Regime,  they  would  be 
more  concerned  for  their  situations  than  for  the  public 
interest.  There  would  be  no  connexion  and  continuity  in  their 
administration ;  and  they  would  be  without  influence  with  the 
bishops  of  their  country,  to  whom  they  would  be  unknown. 

In  addition  to  this,  I  venture  to  remark  that  France  has  an 
interest  in  having  at  the  head  of  those  houses  men  of  sure  and 
Gallican  principles,  who  have  the  confidence  and  act  as  the 
general  agents  of  foreign  Catholics. 

3°.  The  history  of  the  Lombard  College  and  the  changes 
brought  about  by  intrigue  and  by  the  caprice  of  Ministers 
would  weary  the  Reporter.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  the  Govern- 
m.ent  has  re-established  therein  the  primitive  principle  of  unity 
of  regime  at  the  request  of  the  Bishops  of  Ireland,  and  on  the 
report  of  the  Archbishop  of  Paris.  The  latter  is  the  superior 
natus  of  the  Irish  establishment  in  spirituals ;  he  receives  the 
accounts,  and  solicits  from  his  brethren,  the  Bishops  of  Ireland, 
the  sums  necessary  to  make  up  the  annual  deficit.  He  has  the 
right  to  appoint  the  Superior  and  the  Prefect, and  it  appears 
that  the  Municipality  or  the  Department  could  not  take  his 
place  in  this  respect. 

4°.  Since  1737,  there  existed  a  tribunal  consisting  of  the 
Archbishop,  three  Counsellors  of  State,  and  two  Masters  of 
Requests  to  adjudicate  on  disputes,  present  or  to  come,  make 
rules,  etc.  Since  the  Decrees  of  the  Assembly,  this  tribunal  no 
longer  exists.  Yet  such  a  tribunal  is  necessary  for  foreign 
establishments,  and  it  appears  that  the  latter  would  naturally 
fall  under  the  Department  of  Foreign  Affairs.  The  Minister  of 
that  department,  the  Minister  of  Paris,  the  Archbishop,  the 
Mayor,  and  the  Procurator  of  the  Commune,  would  be  suitable 
persons  to  take  the  place  of  the  ancient  tribunal. 


1"  Talleyrand.  Election  of  Superiors  by  the  students. 
^'^  Vice-Rector. 


THE  IRISH  COLLEGE  IN  PARIS 


57 


In  conclusion,  the  Irish  Seminary  in  the  rue  Cheval-Vert  is 
only  a  branch  of  the  Lcibard  College ;  and,  although  separate 
since  1776,  it  is  subject  to  the  principal  house  in  the  rue  des 
Carmes. 

This  appeal  was  successful. 

The  National  Assembly  issued  a  decree,  dated  29th 
October,  1790,  declaring  that  'there  was  nothing  in  the 
law  of  France  to  hinder  foreigners  from  continuing 
to  enjoy  the  property  they  had  acquired  with  their  own 
money.' 

By  a  further  decree  of  the  National  Assembly, 
March,  1791,  the  Superior  of  the  College  was  empowered 
to  administer  not  only  the  property  of  the  College,  but  also 
the  revenues  of  the  burses,  for  the  management  of  which  the 
concurrence  of  the  Canons  of  St.  Victor's  and  the  Abbot  of 
St.  Genevieve  was  formerly  required.^'' 

On  24th  May,  1791,  the  four  archbishops  of  Ireland,  at 
their  meeting  in  Dublin,  drew  up  a  petition  to  the  National 
Assembly,  requesting  that  body  to  confirm  by  decree  certain 
rules  concerning  the  discipline,  studies,  and  administration 
of  the  College.  So  little  were  the  excesses  in  which  the 
Revolution  culminated  then  foreseen  ! 

Ill 

A  second  measure  adopted  by  the  Assembly  was  the  civil 
constitution  of  the  clergy.  By  the  law  of  12th  July,  1790, 
it  was  enacted  that  bishops  and  parish  priests  should  be 
elected  in  the  same  way  as  the  heads  of  the  departments  and 
the  deputies  to  the  Assembly,  and  that  bishops  should  receive 
institution  not  from  the  Pope,  but  from  their  metropolitan. 
All  beneficed  clergy  were  required  to  take  an  oath  declaring 
their  acceptance  of  the  new  constitution.  The  King  at  first 
opposed  his  veto  to  this  measure,  but  at  last  he  withdrew 
his  opposition— on  26th  December,  1790 — on  the  plea  that 
he  was  no  longer  a  free  agent.  On  13th  April,  1791,  Pius  VI. 
formally  condemned  the  civil  constitution  of  the  clergy. 
The  clergy  of  France  nobly  maintained  their  allegiance  to 
the  Holy  See.    When  required  to  swear  fidelity  to  the  new 


^'^  Monileuy,  29th  October,  1790. 

Archives  Nationales,  D.  xix.,  44-702. 


58 


THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


constitution  fifty  thousand  of  the  clergy  and  all  the  bishops, 
except  four,  refused  to  take  the  oath.  In  consequence  they 
were  deprived  of  their  stipend,  and  the  churches  were  closed 
against  them.  Mass  could  no  longer  be  celebrated  in  public, 
except  by  the  constitutional  clergy,  who  by  their  oath  had 
become  schismatics. 

The  Irish  Colleges  were  exempt  from  the  operation  of 
the  civil  constitution  of  the  clergy,  and  Mass  continued  to 
be  celebrated  in  their  chapels.  The  concourse  of  the  faithful 
to  the  divine  service  in  those  chapels  soon  aroused  the  anger 
of  the  agents  of  revolution.  On  25th  September,  1791,  an 
attack  was  made  on  the  people  attending  divine  worship  at 
the  chapel  of  the  Lombard  College.  In  a  letter  addressed 
to  the  Municipality  of  Paris,  Dr.  Walsh,  Superior  of  the 
College,  gave  an  account  of  what  took  place,  and  made  an 
emphatic  protest  against  the  outrage  which  had  been  com- 
mitted. His  letter,  which  we  take  from  the  Mercure  de 
France,  15th  October,  1791,  is  as  follows: — 

The  undersigned  Superior  of  the  Irish  College,  called  of  the 
Lombards,  rue  des  Carmes,  has  the  honour  to  lay  before  you 
his  humble  petition,  and  to  state  that  certain  malevolent 
persons  have  sought  to  mislead  public  opinion  by  an  article 
inserted  in  the  Feuille  du  Soir  of  Sunday  last,  at  page  3,  a 
copy  of  which  is  hereto  annexed,  in  which  there  is  no  truth 
except  the  annoyance  to  foreigners,  and  the  unworthy  treatment 
of  which  they  have  been  the  witnesses  or  the  victims.  A 
simple  and  true  statement  of  what  took  place  will  enable  you 
to  form  an  opinion  and  to  judge. 

Established  in  this  capital  under  the  protection  of  the 
Government  and  the  safeguard  of  the  laws,  we  enjoy,  in  virtue 
of  treaties,  the  free  exercise  of  Catholic  worship.  Our  private 
chapel  has  ever  up  to  the  present  been  open  to  all  those  whom 
piety  has  attracted  to  it,  and  especiidly  to  our  compatriots  of 
both  sexes,  who  hardly  knowing  a  word  of  French,  are,  by  the 
fact,  obliged,  when  they  come  to  Paris,  to  address  themselves 
to  us  for  their  spiritual  necessities.  On  Sunday  last,  25th  Sep- 
tember, several  of  them  accompanied  perhaps;  by  some  French 
friends  or  servants,  assisted  at  our  Mass,  and  on  leaving 
were  pursued,  hooted,  and  maltreated  by  individuals,  who 
came  from  a  neighbouring  wineshop  ;  and,  as  if  insults  and 
threats  were  not  enough,  those  individuals  laid  hold  on  a 
respectable  woman  (it  is  stated  she  was  enceinte)  and  whipped 
her  cruelly.    This  scandcdous  scene  was  applauded.    This  was 


THE  IRISH  COLLEGE  IN  PARIS 


59 


the  way,  it  was  said,  to  punish  those  devotees,  those  aristocrats  ! 
The  Commissary  of  Pohce  arrived  on  the  scene  with  a 
detachment  of  the  National  Guard  ;  he  addressed  the  mob  and 
promised  them  satisfaction  ;  he  brought  in  four  of  the  men  who 
besieged  the  door,  and  reprimanded  me  in  their  presence,  and 
called  on  me  in  the  name  of  the  law  to  make  all  those  in  the 
chapel  leave  without  waiting  for  the  end  of  Mass,  which  was 
already  far  advanced.  He  himself  entered  to  make  an 
inspection,  and  he  forbade  me  to  open  the  door  of  the  College 
to  any  person  whatever.  I  represented  to  him  the  attachment 
of  my  compatriots  to  a  chapel  wherein  repose  the  ashes  of 
their  relatives,  and  I  referred  to  laws  and  to  treaties,  but  to  no 
purpose.  The  Commissary  answered  that  he  knew  not  the 
treaties.  The  commander  of  the  detachment,  who  should  have 
been  the  mute  instrument  of  the  civil  authorit}',  addressed 
those  who  came  out  of  the  chapel  in  the  following  terms : — 
'In  the  name  of  the  man  of  justice,  I  summon  you  to  follow 
me  to  the  church  of  St.  Etienne,  else  I  will  abandon  you  to  the 
people.'  They  left  the  chapel  in  the  midst  of  a  mob,  who  loaded 
them  with  the  greatest  insults.  I  know  not  what  followed.  All 
the  rest  of  the  day  I  heard  nothing  but  insults  and  threats,  to 
which  I  replied  only  by  patience. 

Gentlemen,  I  offer  judicial  proofs  that  neither  the  parish 
priest  nor  the  curates  of  St.  Hilary's"  have  exercised  any 
function  of  the  ministry  in  the  College  since  the  funeral  of  Lord 
Caher,  at  the  beginning  of  1789.  I  might  also  affirm  that  no 
inhabitant  of  that  parish  has  heard  Mass  here  since  the  date  of 
the  Oath.  In  consequence  of  the  foregoing  statement,  we 
expect  from  you,  gentlemen,  security,  protection,  and  liberty. 
Always  animated  with  the  spirit  of  meekness  and  charity  which 
our  ministry  dictates,  we  easily  forget  insults  and  this  first  out- 
burst of  a  misguided  people.  We  content  ourselves  with 
invoking,  we  even  claim  with  confidence  the  law  of  nations,  the 
decrees  of  the  National  Assembly  respecting  the  freedom  of 
religious  opinions,  and,  moreover,  the  treaty  of  1786  between 
Great  Britain  and  France.  This  treaty  secures  to  the  subjects 
of  the  respective  Powers  liberty  of  worship  in  their  national 
establishments.  Now,  gentlemen,  this  treaty  would  be  null  and 
our  liberty  would  be  chimerical,  if  men  whose  duty  it  is  to 
protect  us,  abandon  us  to  a  misguided  people  ;  and  if  we  are 
forced  to  set  up  at  the  doors  of  our  establishments  a  rigorous 
and  impossible  investigation  as  to  the  quality  of  persons,  and  to 
separate  our  compatriots  from  their  friends.  I  ask  of  you  then, 
gentlemen,  to  take  prompt,  certain,  and  efficacious  measures  to 


St.  Hilaire  du  Mont  was  the  ancient  parish  in  which  the  I^mbard 
College  was  situated.  It  now  forms  part  of  the  parish  of  St.  Etienne  du 
Mont. 


6o  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


protect  us  henceforward  from  insult  and  outrage,  or  else  to  pro- 
nounce our  expulsion  from  France,  We  shall  leave  it  without  a 
blush,  for  we  have  ever  been  obedient  to  the  laws  of  the  empire 
without  ceasing  to  be  inviolably  attached  to  the  British 
Monarchy,  of  which  we  are  the  faithful  subjects.  We  even 
venture  to  flatter  ourselves  that,  so  far  from  ignoring  the 
benefits  we  have  received  from  a  noble  nation,  which  opened  to 
us  an  asylum,  we  have  been  and  ever  shall  be  the  first  to  set  the 
example  of  submission  in  all  that  is  not  contrary  to  our  religious 
principles. 

(Signed),  Walsh. 

Paris,  1st  Oct.,  1791. 

The  Mercure  de  France,  in  publishing  the  foregoing  letter, 
remarks  that  in  reading  it,  one  can  easily  judge  how  the 
rights  of  man  and  the  most  valued  laws  are  observed.  It 
adds  that  the  Superior  of  the  Irish  College  had  greatly 
softened  down  the  account  of  what  took  place,  and  it  states 
that  the  alarm  caused  by  the  attack  was  so  great,  that  one 
of  the  priests  of  the  College  fell  ill  and  died  within  a  few 
days.  The  commotion  caused  by  the  celebration  of  Divine 
worship  still  continued,  and  soon  after,  on  9th  October,  a 
similar  attack  was  made  on  the  people  coming  from  the 
chapel  of  the  College  in  rue  du  Che val- Vert.  A  pamphlet 
published  at  the  time,  evidently  by  some  one  with  revolu- 
tionary sympathies,  gives  the  following  graphic  account  of 
what  occurred  : — 

Exact  details''*  of  the  great  Revolution  which  took  place  at 
the  Irish  Seminary,  rue  du  Cheval-Vert,  near  the  Estrapade, 
Faubourg  St.  Marceau,  when  27  female  bigots,  counter-revolu- 
tionists, along  with  the  Superior  of  the  Seminary,  were  whipped 
by  the  holy  wrath  of  the  people,  together  with  a  list  of  the 
names  and  quality  of  all  those  whipped. 

For  a  long  time  past  the  refractory  priests  of  Paris  hav^e 
found  a  delightful  resort  in  the  Irish  Seminary,  rue  du  Cheval- 
Vert,  at  the  Estrapade,  where  they  assembled  a  large  number 
of  devotees,  complaisant  enough  to  listen  with  pleasure  to  the 
false  doctrines  which  they  teach  contrary  to  the  good  principles 


15  '  Detail  exact  de  la  grande  Revolution  arrivee  au  Seminaire  des  Irlandais 
rue  du  Cheval-Vert,  a  I'Estrapade,  Faubourg  St.  Marceau,  ou  27  bigotes  contre- 
revolutionnaires  ont  ete  fouettees,  par  la  sainte  colere  du  peuple,  ainsique  le 
Superieur  du  Seminaire,  avec  la  listedes  nonis  etqualites  de  toutes-(5!t)  les  culs 
fouettes.'  De  I'lmprimerie  de  Labarre  au  coin  de  la  rue  du  Puits  et  du 
Marche  aux  Poirees  a  la  Halle,    (Bibliothcqtic  de  la  Ville  de  Paris,  n.  7502.) 


THE  IRISH  COLLEGE  IN  PARIS 


6l 


of  our  Constitution.  After  several  aristocratic  sermons,  these 
extravagant  devotees  carried  so  far  the  audacity  instilled  into 
them  by  these  counter-revolutionary  priests,  that  they  insulted 
a  number  of  lady  citizens,  and  even  the  National  Guard.  This 
conduct  irritated  all  the  brave  patriot  women  of  the  Faubourg 
St.  Marcel  against  them  to  such  a  degree  that  yesterday  they 
seized  them  as  they  were  coming  out  from  service,  and  beat  and 
whipped  them  a  ciil  nud  publicly  in  the  middle  of  the  street 
Cheval-Vert,  after  having  made  them  make  an  apology,  and  ask 
pardon  in  a  clear  and  intelligible  voice. 

The  feast  of  St.  Denis,  patron  of  the  clergy,  was  the  date  on 
which  all  the  non-juring  priests  of  Paris  were  to  meet  there 
to  celebrate  the  festival  of  him  who  brought  the  faith  to 
France ;  and  at  the  close  of  a  sermon  which  led  the  whole 
audience  to  believe  that  the  faith  is  ruined  since  the  Revolution 
began,  and  is  no  longer  observed  except  by  themselves  and 
such  as  follow  their  principles,  they  made  an  act  of  reparation 
before  a  large  Crucifix,  moved  by  a  spring,  which,  by 
means  of  a  wire,  turned  its  head  at  pleasure,  and  caused  it  by  a 
sign  to  answer  yes,  or  no,  according  to  the  petitions  offered. 
All  those  people  having  their  heads  excited  by  superstition 
cried  out,  '  A  miracle  ! '  with  such  vehemence,  that  from  all 
quarters  people  assembled  to  the  place,  as  did  the  National 
Guard,  who  were  not  able  to  restrain  the  people  exasperated 
by  those  insolent  beguins.  The  first  who  was  whipped  was  the 
most  insolent,  namely,  Mary  Peloise,  a  bigot  furious  against 
the  Revolution ;  the  others  are— Josephine  Rivons,  Catharine 
Goujon,  Julia  Fichetz,  Rosalie  Davelous,  Maryanne  Leffay, 
Frances  Palisot,  Augustine  Mary  Feron,  Antoinette  La-Teay, 
Frances  Grosflay,  Julia  Pelusard,  Mary  Rose  Panau,  &c.,  and 
others,  almost  all  housekeepers  of  refractory  old  cures.  One 
of  them  fainted  three  times,  principally,  when  she  saw  that  they 
were  going  to  whip  the  Superior  of  the  Seminary.  This  scene 
commenced  about  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  and  ended  only 
about  six,  or  even  later.  The  Guard  was  obliged  to  remain 
until  very  late,  for,  after  having  administered  this  correction,  the 
people  would  not  have  failed  to  enter  and  totally  destroy  that 
nest  of  superstition. 

The  foregoing  account  is  interesting  as  showing  the  state 
of  popular  feeling  at  the  time.  But  other  and  more  reliable 
documents  show  how  serious  were  the  disturbances  which 
took  place  on  this  occasion,  viz.,  the  declarations  of  the 
Commissary  of  Police  of  the  Section  of  the  Observatory 
made  on  gth,  loth,  nth,  and  15th  October,  and  still  pre- 
served at  the  archives  of  the  Police  Office,  Paris.  The 


62  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


Commissary  of  Police  deposed  that  the  celebration  of  divine 
worship  at  the  Irish  College  had  excited  the  displeasure  of  the 
people,  that  service  was  attended  by  a  large  number  of 
persons  not  belonging  to  the  College,  and  especially  by 
women.  When  he  arrived  at  the  scene  of  the  disturbance 
on  Sunday,  9th  of  October,  he  found  both  ends  of  the  street 
Cheval-Vert  blocked  by  a  large  crowd  of  people  ;  the  sides 
of  the  street  and  the  space  in  front  of  the  College  door  was 
occupied  by  the  National  Guard,  who  feebly  aided  a  battalion 
from  Val-de-Grace,  which  was  making  every  effort  to  restore 
order. The  Commissary  expressed  his  regret  that  some 
members  of  the  National  Guard  had  entered  the  College, 
and  made  certain  persons  leave  without  escorting  them, 
thereby  exposing  them  to  the  fury  of  the  mob.  He  added 
that  certain  individuals  excited  the  mob  to  violence  by 
declaring  that  the  conduct  of  those  in  the  Seminary  was  an 
act  of  rebellion  against  the  laws  ;  and  that  as  the  magistrates 
did  not  do  their  duty,  the  people  should  take  the  law  into 
their  own  hands.  Students  were  seen,  who  by  their  gestures 
exasperated  the  mob  still  more.  It  was  alleged  that  one  of 
them  had  thrown  an  earthenware  vessel  from  the  windows, 
but  as  no  fragments  were  to  be  found  the  Commissary  con- 
sidered the  statement  improbable. 

Two  persons  were  seen  at  a  window,  one  of  whom  was 
preparing  to  throw  a  tile  from  the  roof,  when  he  was 
restrained  by  a  companion.  The  tumult  continued  until 
late  in  the  evening  and  was  resumed  next  day.  To  restore 
order  it  was  found  necessary  to  call  in  the  aid  of  two 
detachments  of  grenadiers  and  a  detachment  of  cavalry. 

The  sergeant  of  the  battalion  from  Val-de-Grace  also 
made  a  declaration,  stating  the  measures  he  had  taken  up 
to  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening  to  restore  order.  Several 
persons  were  brought  to  trial  for  their  conduct  on  this 
occasion.  One  of  these  was  an  ex-cavalry  officer  who  stood 
opposite  the  College,  and  excited  the  people  by  holding  his 
beads  in  his  hands  and  declaring  that  he  belonged  to  the 
Holy  Catholic  Apostolic  Church.    On  examination  he  was 


Archives  de  Police,  Section  de  I'Observatoire  9-10-16,  October,  1791. 


THE  IRISH  COLLEGE  IN  PARIS 


63 


pronounced  to  be  of  weak  mind  and  was  dismissed.  Another 
was  a  woman,  a  servant  in  a  house  in  the  rue  de  I'Estrapade, 
who  signahsed  herself  by  her  violence,  and  dealt  the  sergeant 
a  blow  in  the  stomach.  Her  employers  declared  that  she 
was  habitually  well  conducted,  and  she  was  released.  A 
third  was  a  woman  whose  conduct  was  still  more  violent. 
She  was  arrested  for  having  struck  a  nun,  and  beaten  a 
woman  named  Jane  Michael  Pothain,  addressing  her  in  the 
vilest  language  {la  traitant  de  cul-joueite  et  lui  disant  des  hor- 
reurs),  and  at  the  same  time  catling  on  the  woman  present 
to  whip  all  the  women  who  entered  the  College.  In  spite 
of  her  protests  she  was  sent  to  prison. 

By  the  vigorous  efforts  of  the  police  and  the  military 
the  troubles  occasioned  by  the  celebration  of  divine  worship 
at  the  two  Irish  Colleges  were  put  a  stop  to  for  a  time.  On 
the  8th  December,  however,  the  disturbances  broke  out 
once  more  at  the  Lombard  College.  An  old  man  and 
a  woman  on  leaving  the  chapel  were  attacked  and  thrown 
violently  to  the  ground.  For  this  misconduct  some 
arrests  were  made.  Again,  on  2nd  February,  1792,  similar 
scenes  of  violence  were  renewed  and  orders  were  given  to 
the  police  at  the  place  Maubert,  to  make  frequent  patrols 
in  the  rue  des  Carmes,  to  hinder  the  mob  from  assembling. 
The  chapel  of  the  College  in  rue  du  Cheval-Vert  continued 
to  be  frequented.  On  21st  May,  1792,  a  certain  Sieur 
Minot  made  a  complaint  to  the  Mayor  of  Paris  that 
'  a  large  number  of  false  devotees  {faux  devots  et  des  fausses 
devotes)  of  both  sexes  assiduously  frequented  the  offices 
celebrated  by  the  Irish  priests,  rue  du  Cheval-Vert,  to  the 
great  indignation  of  the  whole  neighbourhood  against  those 
hypocrites  of  whom  society  ought  to  be  purged." 

At  length  the  indignation  of  the  mob  became  uncon- 
trollable. On  loth  and  12th  August,  1792,  the  College  was 
again  attacked,  the  chapel,  the  rooms,  the  stores,  offices, 
and  cellar,  were  broken  into  and  pillaged.  Dr.  Kearney 
saved  himself  by  flight,  but  soon  returned  to  his  post.  After 
this  date  all  the  ecclesiastical  students  must  have  returned 


Arch.  Nat.,  D,  iii.  235. 


64 


THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


to  Ireland,  for  we  learn  from  a  statement  of  Dr.  Walsh  that 
from  1792  until  the  reorganization  of  the  College,  after  the 
peace  of  Amiens,  ecclesiastical  studies  had  ceased  in  the 
two  Colleges. 

IV 

Meanwhile,  undaunted  by  these  disturbances,  Dr.  Walsh 
had  organised  a  series  of  retreats  at  the  Lombard  College 
for  French  priests  living  in  concealment  in  Paris.  Six 
retreats  took  place  in  the  years  1791  and  1792.  One  of 
Dr.  Walsh's  colleagues.  Rev.  Mr.  O'Brien,  protested 
vehemently  against  the  continuance  of  them,  fearing  they 
would  prove  a  danger  to  the  safety  of  the  College.  Dr.  Walsh, 
however,  was  not  to  be  intimidated,  and  in  a  letter  to  the 
Abbe  de  Salamon,  who,  in  the  capacity  of  Internuncio,  was 
in  correspondence  with  Cardinal  Zalada,  he  writes  as 
follows  : — 

Be  good  enough  to  forward  to  its  destination  the  letter 
herewith  enclosed,  signed  by  the  retreatants,  v/ho  have  just 
concluded  their  retreat  in  the  greatest  tranquillity ;  thanks  be 
to  God,  who  protects  this  good  work,  and  has  caused  it  to 
triumph  over  the  malice  of  men.  You  will  see  by  the  letter  of 
Mr.  O'Brien,  chaplain  of  one  of  the  residences  of  Monsieur, 
how  he  opposed  the  continuance  of  the  exercises  with  all  his 
energy.  Under  the  influence  of  fear  and  panic  himself,  he 
sought  to  inspire  the  students  with  his  own  alarms,  saying  that 
they  would  get  themselves  massacred  if  the  retreat  took  place. 
I  possessed  sufficient  influence  over  their  docile  hearts  to 
reassure  them  against  these  perfidious  insinuations.  Seeing  that 
his  manoeuvres  were  ineffectual,  he  burst  out  publicly,  and 
threatened  to  denounce  to  the  new  magistrates  my  unpatriotic 
conduct  [incivisme),  in  authorising  meetings  which  compro- 
mised the  existence  of  the  house.  God  gave  me  the  grace  not 
to  allow  myself  to  be  moved  by  his  threats,  nor  by  the  steps 
which  he  took  to  deprive  those  good  ecclesiastics  of  the  only 
support  which  remained  to  them.  I  thought  it  my  duty  to 
inform  you  of  this  conduct,  because  I  have  heard  that  Mr. 
O'Brien  is  on  the  list  for  the  Archbishopric  of  Cashel,  in  Ireland. 
His  Eminence  the  Cardinal  Prefect  will  in  his  wisdom  judge 
whether  such  a  man  is  worthy  to  occupy  a  place  in  the  Hierarchy. 

I  have  the  honour  to  be,  with  respect,  your  very  humble 
and  obedient  servant,  ; 

Walsh. 

To  M.  I'Abbe  de  Salamon.    ^th  May,  1792. 

P.S. — The  Vicars-General  will  testify  to  you  regeirding  the 


THE  IRISH  COLLEGE  IN  PARIS 


65 


blameworthy  projects  of  Mr.  O'Brien,  who  will  oppose  in  the 
same  way  the  retreat  announced  for  2gth  of  this  month. 

The  vacancy  in  Cashel  was  filled  on  this  occasion  by  the 
appointment  of  Dr.  Bray.  The  Sacred  Congregation  had  a 
short  time  before  promoted  the  Right  Rev.  Dr.  Teahan, 
Bishop  of  Kerry,  to  the  Archbishopric  of  Cashel.  When 
there  was  a  prospect  of  a  vacancy  in  Kerry,  Dr.  Walsh, 
through  the  Abbe  de  Salamon,  advocated  the  appointment 
of  the  Abbe  Cook  as  bishop  of  that  see.  On  30th  Nov.,  1791, 
Cardinal  Zelada,  in  a  letter  to  the  Internuncio,  writes  : — 

As  I  had  promised  to  you,  I  strongly  recommended  your 
Abbe  Walsh  to  Cardinal  Antonelli,  the  very  worthy  Prefect  of 
Propaganda  ;  and  I  pointed  out  his  desire  to  have  the  Abb6 
Cook  appointed  to  the  bishopric  of  Kerry.  I  must  tell  you  that 
the  Congregation  has  already  promoted  the  Bishop  of  Kerry  to 
the  Metropolitan  See  of  Cashel  ;  but  it  is  not  known  whether  he 
will  accept.  In  general  the  Congregation  has  the  greatest  respect 
for  the  recommendation  of  the  bishops  of  the  province.'" 

But  to  return  from  this  digression  :  the  zeal  of  Dr.  Walsh 
in  organizing  those  retreats  merited  for  him  the  eulogium 
of  Cardinal  Zelada  and  of  his  Holiness  Pius  VL'^  Nor  were 
his  services  forgotten  by  the  ecclesiastical  authorities  in 
Paris.  In  later  years  when,  through  the  intrigues  of  a 
faction,  he  was  obliged  to  retire  from  the  post  of  Adminis- 
trator-General of  the  Irish  Foundations,  he  received  from 
the  Archbishop  of  Paris  the  following  certificate,  to  be  used 
in  his  justification  : — 

To  all  whom  it  concerns  or  may  concern,  we  testify  that  the 
venerable  man,  M.  John-Baptist  Walsh,  an  Irish  priest,  Doctor 
of  the  Sacred  Faculty  of  Paris,  Administrator-General  of  the 
English,  Scotch,  and  Irish  Foundations,  showed  himself  so 
commendable  by  many  titles,  that  after  having  wisely  governed 
the  Irish  College  at  Nantes,  he  was  chosen  about  twenty-two  years 
ago  by  our  Most  Illustrious  and  Most  Rev.  predecessor,  Mgr. 
de  Juigne,  Archbishop  of  Paris,  to  preside  over  the  education 


i«  Unpublished  Letter  from  the  Secret  Archives  of  the  Holy  See,  Vatican 
Archives,  Fraiicia,  583,  kindly  communicated  by  the  Vte.  de  Richemont. 

10  Corrcspr)ndance  secrete  de  I'Abbii  dc  Salamon  charge-d'affaires  die  Saint- 
Siege  pendant  la  Revolution,  avec  Ic  Cardinal  Zelada  (1791,  I79»)  par  le  V''  de 
Richemont  p.  14b.    Paris,  i8g8. 

See  The  Irish  College  in  Paris,  p.  62. 

VOL.    XV.  E 


66  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


of  the  Irish  in  Paris,  and  to  administer  the  property  of  all 
the  foundations  left  by  Irishmen,  and  in  the  discharge  of  that 
office  he  fully  satisfied  the  expectations  of  the  aforesaid  Most 
Illustrious  and  Most  Rev.  Archbishop. 

We  testify,  moreover,  that  at  the  time  when  our  dear 
France  began  to  be  disturbed  by  those  most  lamentable 
civil  commotions,  the  said  venerable  man  most  strenuously 
defended  the  Holy  Catholic  religion  so  grievously  attacked, 
and  did  everything  in  his  power  for  its  advantage  at  the 
Lombard  College,  of  which  he  had  been  then  for  five  years 
rector.  And  this  he  accomplished  by  lodging  and  boarding  as 
many  priests  from  all  parts  of  France  as  the  College  could 
receive,  and  by  organizing  and  sedulously  promoting  during  an 
entire  year  spiritual  retreats,  which,  as  everyone  knows,  are  of 
the  greatest  advantage  to  revive  and  nurture  the  grace  of  the 
priesthood. 

And  we  testify,  that  the  zeal  of  the  aforesaid  venerable 
man  did  not  stop  here,  but  during  the  whole  time  of  the  per- 
secution, both  when  at  the  height  of  its  fury  and  when  it 
began  to  slacken,  he  exerted  himself  to  re-establish  Divine 
worship,  and  by  his  prudence  assisted  in  the  government  of  the 
diocese  of  Paris  in  most  difficult  times  our  predecessors'  Vicars- 
General  to  whose  meetings  he  was  admitted. 

We  testify,  in  fine,  that  the  said  venerable  man  has  ever  been 
most  loyal  to  the  Catholic  Faith  and  to  the  Holy  Apostohc  See, 
that  he  is  free  from  all  censures,  and  has  proved  himself  com- 
mendable by  morals  worthy  of  a  priest,  as  well  as  by  zeal, 
piety,  and  charity. 

In  testimony  whereof  we  have  ordered  the  present  com- 
mendatory letters  to  be  issued. 

Given  at  Paris  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1808,  and  ioth  of 
March. 

(Signed),       ^  J.  B.  de  Belloy, 

Cardinal- Archbishop  of  Paris.'^ 

V 

Whilst  many  of  the  laity  continued  faithful  to  the 
practices  of  religion,  and  many  of  the  clergy  found  strength 
in  spiritual  exercises  to  bear  their  trials,  the  Revolution  was 
increasing  in  violence.  The  Constituent  Assembly  had  given 
place  to  the  Legislative  :  the  Tuileries  had  been  sacked,  and 
the  King  made  a  prisoner  in  the  Temple.  The  Prussians  had 


-1  From  a  printed  Petition  by  Dr.  Walsh  to  the  Provisional  Government, 
Paiis,  1814. 


PHE  IRISH  COLLEGE  IN  PARIS 


67 


invaded  the  soil  of  France,  and  the  revolutionary  leaders 
were  making  vigorous  preparations  to  repel  the  invasion. 
But  they  resolved  before  setting  out  to  strike  a  blow  which 
should  fill  the  Royalists  with  terror.  Domiciliary  visits 
were  made  throughout  Paris,  and  many  persons,  especially 
priests,  who  had  refused  the  oath,  were  seized  and  cast  into 
prison.  Forthwith  the  assassination  of  the  prisoners  was 
resolved  on,  and  a  band  of  three  hundred  assassins  in  the 
pay  of  the  magistrates  assembled  at  the  Hotel  de  Ville 
awaiting  the  signal  to  commence.  On  the  2nd  September 
the  massacres  began,  and  continued  to  the  6th.  At  the  Hotel 
de  Ville,  the  Abbaye,  the  Carmes,  and  other  prisons,  according 
to  the  most  moderate  accounts,"  1,089  persons,  of  whom  200 
were  ecclesiastics,  were  slain  amidst  scenes  of  the  most  savage 
cruelty.  Some  affirm  that  as  many  as  5,000  perished.  At  the 
Church  of  the  Carmes  almost  all  the  victims  were  ecclesiastics. 
They  were  put  to  death  because  they  were  faithful  to  their 
allegiance  to  the  Holy  See.  They  are  regarded  as  martyrs, 
and  the  cause  of  their  Beatification  is  being  prepared.  The 
triumph  of  their  cause  will  be  an  honour  to  the  Irish 
College  ;  for  it  is  believed  that  several  of  them  were  pre- 
pared by  the  retreats  at  the  Lombard  College  to  win  a 
martyr's  crown.  Amongst  those  who  narrowly  escaped 
death  on  the  occasion  of  the  September  massacres  was  an 
Irish  priest  named  Flood,  then  Procurator-Syndic  of  the 
CoUege  of  Navarre,  and  resident  in  the  College  of  Boncour, 
an  annex  of  that  establishment.  There  is  good  reason  to 
believe  that  he  was  no  other  than  Dr.  Peter  Flood,  who  from 
being  a  student  of  the  Irish  College  in  1772  became  Provisor 
of  the  Lombard  College,  then  royal  professor  of  Theology  at 
the  College  of  Navarre,  and  subsequently  President  of 
Maynooth.  His  escape  is  thus  recorded  in  Archives  Parle- 
meniaries,  under  the  date  5th  September,  1792  :  — 

On  5th  September,  MM.  Guirault  and  Hennisart  were 
admitted  to  the  bar  of  the  National  Assembly.  M.  Guirault 
presented  to  the  Assembly  a  new  victim  rescued  from  the 
sword  of  the  armed  mob.  This  citizen,  an  Irish  priest,  named 
Flood,  procurator  of  the  College  of  Boncour,  was  on  the  point  of 
being  included  in  the  number  of  refractory  priests  attached,  like 


See  Lalanne  Dictionnaire  historique  de  a  France,  2  ed.,  I'aris,  1877. 


68  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


him,  to  the  said  college.  M.  Guirault,  in  the  name  of  the  law 
and  at  the  voice  of  innocence,  succeeded  in  rescuing  him.  He 
requests  the  Assembly,  by  placing  him  under  its  protection,  to 
give  to  the  English  people  a  new  proof  of  fraternity  and 
generosity ;  and  to  furnish  him  with  the  means  of  returning  to 
his  native  land  (applause).  Then  MM.  Guirault  and  Hennisart 
took  the  oath  of  3rd  September.  The  President  applauded 
their  zeal,  and  granted  them  the  honours  of  the  sitting.  M. 
Chaudieu  presents  as  a  motion  the  proposal  respecting  the 
Citizen  Flood,  and  asks  that  a  second  honourable  mention  be 
made  of  the  conduct  of  M.  Guirault.  The  Assembly  decrees 
that  M.  Flood  is  placed  under  the  protection  of  the  French 
nation;  and  orders  that  the  name  of  M.  Guirault  be  entered 
on  the  minutes,  as  having  twice  saved  a  man's  life.^'' 

The  massacres  of  September  were  followed  by  the  trial 
and  execution  of  Louis  XVI.  on  23rd  January,  1793.  We 
have  elsewhere  given  an  account  of  the  share  taken  by 
Dr.  Kearney.  Rector  of  the  Irish  College,  in  a  plan  for 
the  escape  of  Louis  XVI.,  and  of  his  presence  on  the 
tragic  occasion  of  the  King's  execution,'^'  A  little  later  we 
find  mention  of  him  in  the  Register  of  the  Revolutionary 
Committee  of  the  Section  of  the  Pantheon.-"  The  awful 
period  of  the  Reign  of  Terror  was  approaching,  yet  Mass 
continued  to  be  celebrated  in  the  College  until  March, 
1793-  On  17th  March  of  that  year  Dr.  Walsh  was  sum- 
moned before  the  Committee  of  General  Safety  and  asked 
why  he  permitted  fanatics  to  attend  Mass  at  his  establish- 
ment. He  replied,  that  it  was  at  rue  du  Che val- Vert  that 
Mass  was  celebrated.  Soon  after  the  two  superiors  were 
summoned  to  account  for  their  conduct.  On  9th  May,  1793, 
the  Committee  of  Public  Safety  issued  the  following  order 
respecting  them  : — 

The  Committee  of  Public  Safety  of  the  Convention,  charges 
the  Commissaries  of  Inspection  of  the  Section  of  the  French 
Pantheon  to  proceed  to  the  Irish  College,  rue  St.  Jacques  (stc), 
to  seize  the  persons  called  Kearney  and  Walsh,  Superiors  of  the 
said  College,  to  examine  their  papers,  and  extract  from  them 


2a  Archicves  Parlimentaries,  5th  Sep.,  1792.    Tom.  xlix.,  p.  377. 

24  I.  E.  Record,  May,  1902,  p.  448. 

25  The  Irish  College  in  Paris,  1578- 1901.  p,  66. 
Archives  Nationales,  F.  2520. 


THE  IRISH  COLLEGE  IN  PARIS 


69 


anything  that  appears  suspicious,  and  bring  it  to  the  Committee 
and  to  have  the  said  individuals  brought  before  it. 

Signed  by  the  Members  of  the  Committee. 

The  Committee  having  learned  that  Kearney  resides  in  the 
College,  rue  du  Cheval-Vert,  in  the  Section  of  the  Observatory, 
resolves  that  the  present  order  shall  be  communicated  to  the 
Revolutionary  Committee  of  the  said  Section,  in  order  to  invite 
them  to  put  it  into  execution  with  regard  to  Kearney,  and 
appoints  the  citizen  Mandisson  to  deliver  the  order  to  our  brothers 
of  the  Revolutionary  Committee  of  the  Observatory,  to  advertise 
them  to  concert  measures  with  the  Revolutionary  Committee  of 
the  Pantheon  to  bring  the  two  persons  mentioned  before  the 
Committee  of  General  Safety  ;  and  it  appoints  the  citizens  Gillard 
and  Champagne  to  execute  the  order  respecting  Walsh  at  the 
Lombard  College,  rue  des  Carmes. 

Immediately  the  Commissaries  proceeded  to  the  Irish 
College,  and  examined  the  papers.  They  reported  as  follows  : — 
'  We  found  no  letters  dated  within  three  months.  The  citizen 
declared  that  at  a  pre\nous  visit,  carried  out  at  his  house,  several 
English  letters  had  been  taken  away.  We  found  a  receipt 
signed  Walsh  and  Schomberg,  dated  Paris,  6th  Nov.,  1790  ;  a 
receipt  for  a  loan  of  600  livres,  made  to  the  said  Schomberg  by 
the  aforesaid  Walsh  and  Kearney ;  a  letter  signed  O'Crowly, 
asking  for  a  burse  for  a  person  named  Lee,  punished  by  the 
tribunals;  a  bill  signed  Xavier  Schomberg,  dated  ist  Nov., 
1790  ;  a  letter  in  English,  without  signature  or  date  ;  a  note  of 
21,065  fr.,  which  the  said  Walsh  stated  he  had  in  cash,  and 
which  he  laid  before  us  in  a  box,  which  he  sealed  ;  76  leaves  of 
assignats  of  four  sous  ;  also,  a  deposit  of  a  legacy,  of  which  he 
is  the  testimentary  executor,  for  the  sisters  and  nephews  of 
Hertot  (?),  residing  in  Ireland.  This  deposit  consists  of  a  gold 
watch,  54  louis,  about  800  livres  in  assignats,  and  600  livres 
in  other  assignats,  five  silver  table-services,  which,  he  said, 
were  specified  in  greater  detail  in  the  inventory  made  by  the 
Mayor,  as  notary,  and  all  deposited  by  him  in  a  box.  Being 
required  by  us,  in  virtue  of  the  order  presented  to  him,  to 
proceed  to  the  Committee  of  Public  Safety  of  the  Convention, 
he  declared  that  he  was  prepared  to  obey  every  requisition 
of  the  law.' 

These  minutes  were  drawn  up  in  the  presence  of  Walsh,  who 
signed  them,  and  they  were  deposited  with  the  Committee. 

We  have  not  been  able  to  discover  an  account  of  the 
appearance  of  Dr.  Walsh  and  Dr.  Kearney  before  the 
Committee  of  Safety  on  this  occasion.  In  the  following 
August  the  Convention  decreed  that  foreigners  who  were 


70  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


subjects  of  States  with  whom  the  Republic  was  at  war 
should  be  arrested,  and  seals  put  upon  their  papers  and 
effects.  This  decree  was  notified  to  the  Committee  of  the 
Section  of  the  Pantheon  on  2nd  August,  1793.  In  October 
all  British  subjects  were  placed  under  arrest.  At  this  time 
the  Irish  Colleges  were  seized  as  belonging  to  the  subjects 
of  a  foreign  State  ;  their  papers  and  effects  were  put 
under  seals.  The  two  superiors  were  imprisoned.  Dr. 
Walsh  was  deprived  of  his  liberty  during  the  whole  period 
of  the  Terror.  Dr.  Kearney  underwent  imprisonment  at 
various  times — in  the  Temple,  in  the  Luxembourg,  and  in 
the  Scotch  College  : — for  thirty-six  days  he  was  detained  in 
a  dungeon  {cachoi)  from  which  he  was  told  he  would  only 
come  forth  to  go  to  the  scaffold.  The  intervention,  how- 
ever, of  Camille  Desmoulins  saved  his  life. 

VI 

The  revolutionary  storm  was  at  length  beginning  to 
subside.  Dr.  Walsh,  freed  from  imprisonment,  was 
allowed  to  return  to  his  college.  Here  he  occupied  himself 
in  preserving  all  that  remained  of  its  property.  At  the 
same  time  he  co-operated  with  the  Vicars-General  of  Paris 
in  superintending  the  religious  interests  of  the  diocese. 
After  the  death  of  Robespierre  a  certain  measure  of 
religious  toleration  was  exercised,  and  about  three  hundred 
priests  ministered  in  Paris  to  the  wants  of  the  faithful. 
In  1795,  besides  oratories,  several  churches  were  opened,  by 
permission  of  the  Municipality,  to  the  clergy  who  had  not 
taken  the  oath.  In  1797  fifty  parish  churches  were  open 
at  Easter,  and  were  insufficient  to  contain  the  people  who 
flocked  to  them.  In  the  provinces  similar  toleration 
existed.  The  priests  who  had  emigrated  began  to  return ; 
and  before  the  Concordat  was  signed,  there  were  on  French 
soil  over  20,000  priests  ;  and,  as  Abbe  Sicard  shows  from 
official  statistics,  deducting  those  who  had  taken  the  oath, 
as  well  as  the  aged  and  infirm,  there  were  already  from 
18,000  to  19,000  zealous  priests  engaged  in  the  work  of  the 


THE  IRISH  COLLEGE  IN  PARIS 


71 


ministry  While  Dr,  Walsh  was  occupied  in  co-operating 
with  the  Vicars-General  of  Paris,  at  that  time  as  the  Abbe 
Sicard  calls  them,  the  light  of  the  Clergy  of  France ;  Dr. 
Kearney  also  re-covered  his  liberty.  In  May,  of  the  year  IV. 
(1796)  the  seals  were  taken  off  the  College  property,  and  Dr. 
Kearney  reentered  on  the  provisional  administration  of  it.  As 
there  was  no  prospect  of  students  coming  from  Ireland,  he 
let  the  College  for  a  period  of  nine  years  to  Abbe  Mac- 
Dermott,  an  Irish  priest,  who  kept  a  school  for  young 
gentlemen.  Abbe  MacDermott's  school  was  attended  by 
the  sons  of  many  distinguished  French  families,  and  an 
interesting  account  of  its  character,  taken  from  O'Reilly's 
Irish  Abroad  and  at  Home,  may  be  seen  in  the  pages  of  the 
I.  E.  Record  of  March,  1866,  p.  255.  Abbe  MacDermott 
continued  to  occupy  the  College  as  tenant  until  about  1804, 
when  he  was  obliged  by  Dr.  Walsh  to  give  up  possession. 

Meanwhile  order  was  slowly  emerging  from  chaos. 
Bonaparte  had  entered  into  negotiations  with  the  Holy 
See  for  the  official  re-establishment  of  public  worship  in 
France.  Negotiations  for  peace  with  England  were  also  in 
progress.  At  this  juncture  Dr.  Walsh  addressed  a  petition 
to  the  First  Consul  for  the  reorganisation  of  the  Irish 
College  in  Paris.  He  was  aided  by  the  influence  and 
diplomatic  skill  of  the  illustrious  Bishop  of  Waterford, 
Most  Rev.  Dr.  Hussey.  That  prelate,  who  had  formerly 
been  chaplain  to  the  Spanish  Embassy  in  London,  came 
to  Paris,  and  represented  the  views  of  his  colleagues  the 
Bishops  of  Ireland.  The  Spanish  Ambassador  in  Paris  pre- 
sented him  to  Napoleon  and  supported  his  petition  for  the 
re-establishment  of  the  Irish  Colleges.  His  efforts  were 
crowned  with  success.  On  19th  Fructidor,  of  year  IX. 
(1801)  a  decree  of  the  First  Consul  sanctioned  the  reopen- 
ing of  the  College,  and  appointed  a  Bureau  of  Surveillance 
to  superintend  its  reorganisation.  Dr.  Hussey,  who  had 
so  large  a  share  in  the  happy  issue  of  a  negotiation  so 
important  for  the  Church  in  Ireland,  addressed  a  letter  to 


L'ancien   clcrge  de  Prance  pendant  la  Revolution,  par  I'Abbe  3icard. 
Paris,  1903,  pp.  432-543. 


72 


THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


His  Holiness  Pius  VII.  to  inform  him  of  the  success  of  his 
mission  to  France.  He  received  from  the  Holy  Father  the 
following  reply,  for  which  we  are  deeply  indebted  to 
Most  Rev.  Dr.  Sheehan,  his  distinguished  and  accomplished 
successor  in  the  See  of  Waterford.  His  Holiness  writes 
as  follows  : — 

PIUS  Vn.  POPE. 

Venerable  Brother, 

Health  and  Apostolic  Benediction, — We  have  received  the 
expression  of  your  devoted  sentiments  on  the  occasion  of  our 
promotion  to  the  Supreme  Pontificate,  the  more  gladly  as  we 
are  convinced  that  it  proceeds  not  so  much  from  mere  cere- 
mony as  from  great  zeal  for  religion,  for  which  you  are 
especially  commendable.  How  much  you  excell  herein  is 
testified,  not  only  by  your  former  services  performed  with  singular 
fidelity,  labour,  and  assiduity  for  the  welfare  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  but  also  by  what  you  have  recently  achieved  in 
France,  where  aided  by  the  influence  of  the  Catholic  King 
you  have  once  more  secured  to  your  nation  the  colleges  esta- 
blished in  that  country  for  the  education  of  Irish  ecclesiastics. 
We  therefore  praise  the  excellent  work  you  have  performed,  as 
well  as  your  Apostolic  zeal.  We  thank  you  extremely  for 
having  made  us  participators  in  the  joy  which  you  feel  at  the 
successful  issue  of  your  Apostolic  efforts.  The  matter,  in 
truth,  is  one  which  redounds  to  your  great  glory  and  joy,  and 
fills  us  with  marvellous  pleasure.  Wherefore  we  pray  God,  who 
is  infinitely  good,  and  to  whom  you  so  laudably  refer  your 
success,  to  assist  you  by  His  powerful  aid  in  your  labours  for 
the  Church,  so  that  we  may  often  be  able  to  rejoice  at  the  fruits 
of  your  labours ;  and  for  their  greater  increase  day  by  day, 
while  we  extend  to  you  our  aid,  we  lovingly  impart  to  you  the 
Apostolic  Benediction  as  a  pledge  of  heavenly  blessings 

Given  at  Rome,  at  St.  Mary  Major's,  5th  September,  1801, 
the  second  of  our  Pontificate, 

Joseph  MEROTxr, 
Secretary  of  Latin  Letters. 

To  our  Venerable  Brother, 

Thomas,  Bishop  of  Waterford.^ 

When  permission  had  been  secured  to  reopen  the  Irish 
College  in  Paris  the  work  of  reorganisation  commenced. 


28  From  a  copy  of  the  original  in  Latin,  kindly  communicated  by  Most 
Rev.  Dr.  Sheetian,  Bishop  of  Waterford. 


THE  IRISH  COLLEGE  IN  PARIS 


73 


The  house  in  rue  du  Cheval-Vert  was  made  the  seat  of 
the  new  estabUshment.  Finally,  after  many  difficulties  had 
been  overcome,  on  ist  of  August,  1805,  Dr.  Walsh  published 
a  prospectus  announcing  the  opening  of  classes  for  the  ist  of 
October  following — feast  of  Remy.'^ 

Pius  VII.,  on  the  occasion  of  his  visit  to  Paris  for  the 
coronation  of  Bonaparte,  gave  his  blessing  to  the  work  in 
which  Dr.  Walsh  was  engaged.  Since  October,  1805,  many 
generations  of  students  have  made  in  the  old  College  their 
preparation  for  the  work  of  the  mission.  In  oninem  terram 
exivit  sonus  eorum:^'^  Another  Pius  now  sits  upon  the  throne 
of  Pius  VI.  and  Pius  VII.  When  the  centenary  of  its  re- 
opening comes  round  in  1905,  the  College  will  have  many 
blessings  for  which  to  offer  thanks  to  God.  May  its  children 
in  the  future  be  as  loyal  to  Pius  X.  as  their  predecessors 
have  been  to  the  great  Pontiffs  who  preceded  him. 

Patrick  Boyle,  cm. 


The  Irish  College  in  Paris,  1578-1901,  p.  307-210. 
Psalm  xviii. 


[   74  ] 


Botes  anb  (Sluenee 

LITURGY 

DECBEES  OF  THE  S.B.C. !  JUBILEE  OF  DEFINITION  OF 
IMMACULATE  CONCEPTION.  "WHETHEB  EEVEBENCES 
ABE  TO  BE  MADE  AT  MENTION  OF  A  SAINT'S  NAME 
IN  MASS  SAID  DXJEING  HIS  OCTAVE  WHEN  HE  IS  NOT 
COMMEMOBATED  PEEFACE  TO  BE  SAID  IN  VOTIVE 
MASSES  DUBIN&  OCTAVES.    NOTES  ON  DECBEES. 

DECRETA  S.  R.  C. 

1. 

Urbis  et  Orbis. — Adventante  anno  quinquagesimo  ab  auspica- 
tissima  die  8  Decembris  anni  1854,  qua  in  maximo  Templo 
Vaticano  de  Immaculata  Conceptione  B.  M.  V.  dogmatica 
definitio  a  sa.  m.  Pio  Papa  IX  solemniter  pronunciata  fuit,  ut 
huiusce  iubilei  cursus  in  gloriam  divini  nominis,  in  eiusdem 
Deiparae  Virginis  honorem,  atque  in  fidei  et  pietatis  incremen- 
tum  verteret,  Leo  Papa  XIH,  nuper  vita  functus  et  felicis  recor- 
dationis,  Commissionem  ex  quibusdam,  Emis.  Patribus  Cardi- 
nalibus  compositam  instituit,  quae  fidelium  cuiusque  ordinis  et 
coetus  studia  et  opera  ad  hunc  specialem  finem  dirigendo  et 
provehendo  prospiceret. 

Nunc  vero  haec  sacrorum  Purpuratorum  Commissio,  sub 
novis  faustisque  auspiciis  Sanctae  Matris  Eccles.  coelesti  sponso 
et  capiti  perenniter  iunctae,  et  post  brevem  viduitatis  luctum, 
altero  visibili  sponso  et  capite  iucunde  decoratae,  communia 
complurium  Pastoram  et  fidelium  vota  humilesque  preces  Apos- 
tolicae  Sedi  reverenter  porrexit.  Quas  a  subscripto  Sacrorum 
Rituum  Congregationis  Secretario  relatas  Sanctissimus  Dominus 
Noster  Pius  Papa  X,  pro  eo  quo  erga  Deiparam  Virginem  studio 
et  amore  flagrat,  benignissime  excipiens,  indulsit  ut,  decurrente 
anno,  a  proximo  die  festo  Immaculatae  Conceptionis  B.  M.  V. 
computando,  die  octava  cuiusque  mensis,  vel,  iustis  de  causis, 
Dominica  eam  immediate  sequente,  in  Ecclesiis  aut  Oratoriis, 
ubi,  approbante  loci  Ordinario,  quaedam  exercitia  pietatis  fiant 
in  honorem  B.  M.  V.  Immaculatae,  praeparatoria  quinquage- 
nariis  solemnis  enunciatae,  dogmaticae  definitionis,  unica  Missa 
votiva,  sive  cum  cantu  sive  lecta,  de  Ipsius  SS.  Virginis  Imma- 


NOTES  AND  QUERIES 


75 


culata  Conceptione  celebrari  valeat,  cum  iisdem  privilegiis  quae 
competunt  Missae  votivae  solemni  pro  re  gravi  et  publica  Eccle- 
siae  causa,  iuxta  Decretum  N.  3922  de  Missis  Votivis,  30  lunii 
1896  §  2,  quaeque  concessa  fuere  Missae  Votivae  de  S.  Corde 
lesu  pro  prima  feria  VI  uniuscuiusque  mensis  ad  normam  Decreti 
N.  3712  "  Urbis  er  Orbis,"  28  lunii  1889,  et  subsequentium  de- 
clarationem  :  ita  ut  huiusmodi  Missa  dicatur  cum  Gloria  et  Credo, 
et  unica  Oratione,  et  dummodo  non  occurrat  festum  duplex  primae 
classis  aut  Dominica  item  primae  classis  aliquod  festum  eiusdem 
B.  M.  v.,  feria,  vigilia  aut  octava  ex  privilegiatis  :  in  quibus 
solummodo  Commemoratio  fieri  poterit  Orationem  Missae 
Votivae  post  Orationem  Missae  de  die,  sub  unica  conclusione. 

Insuper  eadem  Sanctitas  Sua,  supplici  postulationi  plene 
cumulateque  satisfaciens,  hoc  etiam  liberaliter  concessit,  ut  in 
praefatis  Ecclesiis  aut- Oratori  is,  praeter  memoratam  Missam 
Votivam,  qualibet  die  octava  mensis  vel  Dominica  proxime 
sequente  indultam,  ceteris  Missis  tunc  addi  possit  Commemoratio 
Immaculatae  Conceptionis  B.  M.  V.  ad  instar  festi  duplicis 
simplificati  :  servatis  tamen  in  omnibus  Rubricis.  Contrariis 
non  obstantibus  quibuscumque.    Die  14  Augusti  1903. 

M.  Card.  Mocekni. 

D.  Panici,  Archiep.  Laodicen.,  Secret. 

II. 

Ord.  Fratrum  Minorum. — Rev.  P.  Pascalis  a  Perusia,  sacer- 
dos  professus  Ordinis  Fratrum  Minorum,  de  consensu  sui  Rmi. 
Procuratoris  Generalis,  Sacrorum  Rituum  Congregationi  se- 
quentia  dubia,  pro  opportuna  solutione,  humillime  exposuit, 
nimirum  : 

I.  An  infra  octavam  alicuius  Sancti  octavam  habentis,  cuius 
nec  officium  recitatur,  nec  fieri  commemoratio  per  accidens 
potest,  caput  inclinari  debeat,  quando  dicti  Sancti  nomen 
occurrit  in  Missa  ? 

II.  Ouaenam  praefatio  dicenda  sit  in  Missa  votiva  conven- 
tual], quando  alia  celebretur  Missa  de  die  infra  octavam  vel  eius 
fiat  commemoratio  in  Missa  de  officio  occurrente,  an  scilicet 
praefatio  communis  vel  prefatio  de  octava  ? 

Et  Sacra  eadem  Congregatio,  ad  relationem  subscripti  Secre- 
tarii,  exquisito  voto  Commissionis  Liturgicae,  omnibusque 
accurate  perpensis,  rescribendum  censuit  : 


7^  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


Ad  I.  Affirmative.  Ad  II.  Affirmative  ad  primum.  Nega- 
tive ad  secundum. 

Atque  ita  rescripsit  die  19  lunii  1903. 

S.  Card.  Cretoni,  Praefedus. 

D.  Panici,  Archiep.  Laodicen.,  Secret. 

Notes  on  Decrees  : 

I.  December  8th,  1904,  will  be  the  fiftieth  anniversary 
of  the  promulgation  of  the  Decree  that  made  the  doctrine 
of  the  Immaculate  Conception  of  the  Mother  of  God  an 
article  of  Catholic  Faith.   The  advent  of  the  Golden  Jubilee 
of  the  Definition  will  be  the  occasion  for  general  rejoicing 
throughout  the  Catholic  world,  and  will  be  celebrated  with 
befitting  pomp  and  ceremonial  in  every  clime  where  Mary's 
name  is  held  in  honour.    It  was  the  chief  concern  of  the 
last  days  of  the  late  Sovereign  Pontiff  to  make  the  celebra- 
tion worthy  of  its  object  and  expressive  of  that  ardent 
devotion  to  our  Lady  that  characterised  his  own  life.  The 
noble  designs  of  Leo  are  being  carried  into  execution  by  his 
successor,  who  has  ordered  that  the  following  year  shall  be  in 
a  very  special  manner  consecrated  to  the  honour  and  worship 
of  the  Blessed  Virgin.    The  first  year  of  his  Pontificate, 
accordingly,  is  to  be  a  year  of  preparation  for  the  Jubilee 
of  the  Immaculate  Conception.    During  it  he  has  desired 
that  special  devotions  should  be  practised  in  Mary's  honour, 
and  to  render  these  practices  of  piety  the  more  feasible  he 
has  granted  the  privileges  contained    in  above  Decree. 
During  the  coming  year  a  Votive  Mass  of  the  Immaculate 
Conception,  either  chanted  or  read,  is  permitted  in  any 
Chapel  or  Oratory  where  devotions  are  practised  in  honour 
of  Mary  Immaculate  on  the  8th  day  of  each  month,  or,  if 
not  possible  on  this  day,  on  the  following  Sunday.  The 
privileges  of  this  Mass  are  the  same  as  those  granted  to  the 
Votive  Mass  of  the  Sacred  Heart  on  the  first  Friday  of  each 
month.    That  is  to  say,  it  is  to  be  said  with  Gloria,  and 
Credo,  and  one  prayer,  and  may  be  said  on  any  day  that  is 
not  occupied  with  a  Double  of  the  First  Class,  a  Sunday  of 
the  First  Class,  any  Feast  of  the  B.V.,  a  privileged  feria. 


OTES  AND  QUERIES 


77 


vigil  or  octave.  (On  these  days  a  commemoration  only  of 
the  Votive  Mass  is  allowed  to  be  made  under  the  same 
conclusion  with  the  Prayer  of  the  Mass  for  the  day.)  More- 
over, wherever  the  Votive  Mass  is  said  a  commemoration 
of  it  is  also  allowed,  when  permitted  by  the  Rubiics,  in  all 
the  other  Masses  said  in  the  same  place. 

2.  The  Rubrics  order  an  inclination  of  the  head  at 
mention  in  the  Mass  of  the  Saint  whose  office  is  being 
recited,  or  who  is  even  commemorated.  The  Congregation 
of  Rites  decided  that  this  does  not  apply  to  the  titles  of  the 
Epistles  and  Gospels.^  Supposing  that,  for  some  reason, 
during  the  octave  of  a  certain  Saint  neither  his  office  nor 
commemoration  of  him  is  allowed  on  a  particular  day,  is  a 
reverence  to  be  made  at  his  name  when  it  occurs  in  the 
Mass  ?  This  is  the  question  decided  by  above  Decree  and 
the  answer  is  :  If  the  office  and  commemoration  excluded 
only  per  accidens,  affirmative,  if  excluded  per  se,  negative. 
As  far  as  we  can  ascertain  a  commemoration  is  regarded  as 
excluded  per  accidens  when  the  solemnity  of  some  occurring 
office  prohibits  it,  and  per  se  when  there  is  no  affinity 
whatsoever  between  the  two  Masses — as  in  the  case  of  a 
Festive  Mass  and  a  Mass  for  the  Dead — ^or  when  the  Votive 
Mass  is  completely  extra  ordinem  officii.  An  almost  similar 
process  of  reasoning  would  seem  to  account  for  the  decision 
regarding  the  Preface  in  a  conventual  Votive  Mass  which 
is  altogether  dissociated  from  the  office  and  Mass  of  the 
day.  Here  it  stands  completely  by  itself,  and  if  it  has  not 
a  proper  preface,  then  the  common  one  is  to  be  said. 


'  S.  R.  C.  Dec.,  3767,  nov.  coll. 


[   78  ] 


CORRESPONDENCE 

ALTAR  WINE 

Rev.  Dear  Sir, — In  your  last  issue  Fr.  O'Callaghan  of  Cork 
■calls  attention  to  a  very  important  matter,  namely,  that  of 
Altar  Breads.  On  this  I  should  merely  like  to  remark  that 
the  question  is  not  where  were  they  consecrated  but  when  were 
they  baked,  and  this  is  the  very  point  which  is  overlooked  by 
many. 

But  a  far  more  important  question,  because  more  open  to 
abuse,  is  that  of  Altar  Wines.  I  would  earnestly  beg  of  your 
clerical  readers  to  study  a  series  of  articles  contributed  by  Dr. 
J.  A.  Mooney,  of  New  York,  to  the  American  Ecclesiastical 
Review  (March,  April,  May,  and  June,  1900),  and  I  venture  to 
think  that  like  myself,  they  will  be  not  alone  interested  and 
instructed,  but  alarmed  by  the  perusal  thereof. 

He  proves  up  to  the  hilt  on  most  reliable  and  scientific  autho- 
rity that  a  vast  proportion  of  the  so-called  '  Wine  '  which  is 
on  the  market  and  on  our  tables  is  not  wine  at  all,  for,  that  not 
a  single  grape  ivas  used  in  its  manufacture,  but  that  it  is  the 
product  of  chemical  processes.  This  surely  is  enough  to  give 
us  pause  and  make  us  enquire  who  is  the  wine  merchant  from 
whom  our  Altar  Wines  are  procured.  I  have  been  told  by  a 
layman  of  undoubted  veracity  that  his  P.P.,  a  venerable  canon, 
gets  his  Altar  Wines  from  a  local  public-house  ! 

Some  of  these  '  Wines '  contain  alcohol  to  the  extent  of  30 
per  cent,  and  more,  which,  even  if  they  were  (what  Dr.  Mooney 
says  they  are  not)  the  genuine  fruit  of  the  vine  would  render 
them  wholly  unfit  for  the  Altar.  And  even  Altar  Wines  pro- 
perly so-called  sometimes  contain  18  per  cent.,  on  the  ground 
that  it  is  necessary  for  the  purposes  of  preservation. 

With  all  these  facts  staring  us  in  the  face,  may  a  person  who 
is  seriously  perturbed  by  them — and  I  admit  I  am — substitute 
Unfermented  Wine,  that  is,  Wine  free  from  alcohol,  for  the  kind 
now  in  use  ?  Which  kind  did  our  Divine  Lord  make  use  of  at 
the  Last  Supper  ?  Is  it  not  reasonable  to  suppose  that  the  Jews 
who  were  so  scrupulous  in  avoiding  leavened  bread  would  be 
equally  so  as  regards  fermented  Wine.    In  fact,  I  take  it,  they 


CORRESPONDENCE 


79 


were  utterly  ignorant  of  the  modern  art  of  '  doctoring  '  their 
wines. 

Yours  faithfully, 

Walter  O'Brien,  c.c. 

Doneraile. 

[Father  O'Brien  may  rest  assured  that  the  Jews  knew 
how  to  ferment  their  wine ;  and  that  at  the  Last  Supper  it 
was  naturally  fermented  wine  that  was  used.  We  think 
with  him  that  too  much  importance  cannot  be  attached  to 
the  necessity  of  securing  pure  wine  for  the  altar ;  but  we 
cannot  see  our  way  to  adopt  as  our  own  his  suggestion  that 
people  in  this  country  should  proceed  to  manufacture  pure 
wine  for  themselves.  Even  on  the  supposition  that  the  hot- 
house grape  or  the  imported  grape  were  capable  of  yieldinglthe 
proper  quality  of  must  the  process  of  fermentation  demands 
more  knowledge,  skill  and  experience  than  is  usually  at  the 
command  of  an  individual  priest. 

It  seems  to  us  that  there  are  many  more  practical 
ways  of  meeting  the  difficulty  than  by  writing  about 
it  in  the  periodicals.  The  solution  suggested  by  Mgr.  Mooney 
in  America  is  a  physical  impossibility  in  Ireland,  We  do 
not  wish  in  the  least  to  minimise  the  gravity  of  the  question 
raised,  and  we  are  well  aware  that  Father  O'Brien  is  very 
far  from  being  alone  in  his  uneasiness  about  the  quality  of 
the  wine  supplied. — Ed.  I.  E.  Record.] 


[    8o  ] 


DOCUMENTS 

OFPICES  FOK  IRISH  PATRON  SAINTS 
ARMACANA,  CASSILIEN.,  DUBLINEN.,  AC  TUAMEN. 

Apostolicae  Sedis  Decretg  quum  instantibus  Rmis.  Sacris 
Hiberniae  Antistibus,  anno  superiore  confirmatus  sit  cultus  ab 
immemorabili  tempore  nonnullis  ipsius  Hiberniae  Dei  famulis 
praestiti,  Sanctis  nuncupatis,  quorum  elenchus  huic  Decreto 
subiicitur  ;  iteratas  preces  Rmus.  Dominus  Joannes  Healy,  olim 
Episcopus  Clonferten.,  nunc  Tuamensis  Archiepiscopus,  una  cum 
ceteris  Hiberniae  Praesulibus  Sanctissimo  Domino  Nostro  Pio 
Papae  X  preces  humillime  submisit,  ut  Officia  atque  EUogia, 
Mart3'rologiis  inserenda  pro  festis  peculiariuni  Sanctorum  appro- 
bare  et  petentibus  Hiberniae  Dioecesibus  concedere  dignaretur, 
quorum  schema  demississime  subiecit. 

Eiusmodi  porro  Lectiones  secundi  nocturni  atque  Orationes 
Officiis  ac  Missis  de  respectivo  Communi  addendas,  necnon  memo- 
rata  Ellogia  pro  Dioecesuum  Martj'rologiis,  quum  de  more  Emus, 
ac  Rmus.  Dnus.  Cardinalis  Vincentius  Vannutelli,  Episcopus 
Praenestinus,  Relator,  in  Ordinariis  Sacrorum  Rituum  Congre- 
gationis  Comitiis,  subsignata  die  ad  Vaticanum  habitis,  propo- 
suerit  ;  Emi  et  Rmi.  Patres  sacris  tuendis  Ritibus  praepositi,  re 
mature  perpensa,  auditoque  scripto  et  voce  R.  P.  Alexandro 
Verde,  S.  Fidei  Promotore,  rescribere  rati  sunt  :  Pro  gratia  ;  et 
ad  Emum.  Ponentem  cum  Promotore  Fidei.  Die  i  Septembris 
1903. 

Omnium  denique  exhibitarum  Lectionum  atque  Ellogiorum 
revisione  diligenter  peracta,  bisque  omnibus  Sanctissimo  Domino 
Nostro  Pio  Papae  X.  per  infrascriptum  Secretarium  relatis, 
Sanctitas  Sua  sententiam  Sacri  ipsius  Consilii  ratam  habens, 
suprascriptas  Lectiones,  Orationes,  atque  Ellogia  suprema  Auc- 
toritate  Sua  approbavit,  atque  Officia  cum  Missis  de  respectivis 
festis  a  Clero  cuiusque  Dioeceseos  Hiberniae  sub  ritu  expetito 
quotannis  recolendis  benigne  indulgere  dignata  est  :  servatis 
Rubricis.  Contrariis  non  obstantibus  quibuscumque.  Dei  7 
iisdem  mense  et  anno. 

ELENCHUS 

DEI  FAMULORUM  HIBERNIAE  SANCTORUM  NUNCUPATORUM 

S.  Celsus,  Ep.  et  Conf.  S.  Albertus,  Ep.  et  Conf . 

S.  Colmanus,  Ep.  et  Conf.        S.  Brendanus,  Abb. 


DOCUMENTS 


8l 


S.  Columba,  Abb. 

S.  Comgallus,  Abb. 

S.  Eugenius,  Ep.  et  Conf. 

S.  Fedliminus,  Ep.  et  Conf. 

S.  Finianus,  Ep.  et  Conf. 

S.  Macanisius,  Ep.  et  Conf. 

S.  Macartinus,  Ep.  et  Conf. 

S.  Canicius,  Abb. 

S.  Coemgenus,  Abb. 

S.  Conlethus,  Ep.  et  Conf. 

S.  Edanus,  Ep.  et  Conf. 

S.  Kiranus,  Ep.  et  Conf. 

S.  Laserianus,  Ep.  et  Conf. 


S.  Carthagus,  Ep.  et  Conf. 
S.  Cataldus,  Ep.  et  Conf. 
S.  Colmanus,  Ep.  et  Conf. 
S.  Declanus,  Ep.  et  Conf. 
S.  Fachananus,  Ep.  et  Conf. 
S.  Flannanus,  Ep.  et  Conf. 
S.  Finbarrus,  Ep.  et  Conf. 
S.  Otteranus,  Ep.  et  Conf. 
S.  Asicus,  Ep.  et  Conf. 
S.  Colmanus,  Ep.  et  Conf. 
S.  Jarlathus,  Ep.  et  Conf. 
S.  Muredachus,  Ep.  et  Conf. 
S.  Natheus,  Ep.  et  Conf. 


L.  ^.S. 


S.  Card.  Cretoni,  S.R.C.  Praef. 
«i«  D.  Panici,  Archiep.  Laodicen.,  S.R.C.  Secret. 


ALLOOTTTION  OF  HIS  HOIilNESS  POPE  PITTS  X.  AT  THE 
CONSISTORY  OF  NOVEMBER  9tli. 

Venerabiles  Fr aires, 

Primum  vos  hodierna  die  ex  hoc  loco  Nobis  alloquentibus, 
illud  ante  omnia  occurrit  animo,  attingere  oportere  factum 
proximo  tempore,  quum  delatam  per  vestra  suffragia  Apostolici 
fastigii  dignitatem  declinare  obtestando  conati  sumus.  Etinem 
nolumus,  id  Nos  fecisse  ob  eam  rem  arbitremini,  quod  aut  parum 
voluntatis  vestrae  significatio  honestissimumque  de  Nobis  iudi- 
cium  moveret,  aut  pigeret  etiam  laborare  amplius  Ecclesiae 
causa,  cui  quidem  aetatem  omnem  animamque  devotam  habe- 
remus.  Verum  quum  explorata  Nobis  esset  sive  inopia  virtutis 
Nostrae  sive  exiguitas  ingenii,  quumque  simul  constaret,  quae 
quantaque  a  Pontifice  romano  essent  iure  expectanda,  quid 
mirum  si  tanto  sustinendo  muneri  Nos  ipsos  plane  impares  fore 
videbamus  ?  Profecto  evangelica  curare  et  vulgo  serventur  prae- 
scripta,  rite  custodiantur  consilia  ;  sarta  tecta  Ecclesiae  prae- 
stare  iura  ;  multiplices  maximasque  diiudicare  causas,  quae  de 
societate  domestica,  de  institutione  adolescentis  aetatis,  de  iure 
et  proprietate  extiterint  ;  perturbatos  civitatis  ordines  ad  chris- 
tianam  aequabilitatem  componere  ;  brevi,  terras  expiando  caelis 
comparare  cives  :  hae  inquimus,  similesque  Apostolici  officii 
partes  maiores  eae  quidem  videbantur  quam  ut  his  viribus  expleri 
digne  possent.    Accedebat,  id  quod  in  Encyclicis  Litteris  proxime 

VOL.    XV.  F 


82  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


significavimus,  ut  excipiendus  locus  eius  esset  Pontificis,  cuius 
et  studium  in  religione  amplificando  fovendoque  multipliciter 
pietatis  cultu,  et  sapientia  in  profligandus  erroribus  horum  tem- 
porum,  doctrinaeque  vitaeque  christianae  integritate  publice 
privatim  revocanda,  et  providentia  in  relevanda  humilium  in- 
opumque  fortuna  atque  incommodis  civilis  societatis  opportune 
subveniendo,  sic  eluxere,  ut  humani  generis  immortalem  ei  cum 
admiratione  gratiam  pepererint.  Quem  non  deterreret  haec  tanta 
excellentia  et  magnitudo  viri  ab  ista  tamquam  haereditate 
adeunda  muneris  ?  Nos  certe,  tenuitatem  Nostram  reputantes, 
deterebat  vel  maxime. 

At  quoniam  arcanae  Dei  voluntate  visum  est,  supremi  Apos- 
tolatus  Nobis  onus  imponere,  id  equidem,  ipsius  ope  auxilioque 
unice  confisi,  feremus.  Quantum  autem  est  in  Nobis,  certum 
destinatumque  est,  omnes  curas  cogitationesque  illuc  conferre 
ut  sancte  inviolateque  servemus  depositum  fidei,  et  sempiternae 
omnium  saluti  consulamus  ;  eiusque  rei  gratia  nihil  quidquam 
aut  laborum  aut  molestiarum  unquam  defugere.  Quum  vero 
necesse  sit  christianaeque  rei  publicae  quam  maxime  intersit, 
Pontificem  in  Ecclesia  gubernanda  et  esse  et  apparere  liberum 
nullique  obnoxium  potestati,  ideo,  quod  conscientia  officii,  simul- 
que  iurisiurandi  quo  obstringimur,  sacrosancta  religio  postulat, 
gravissimam  in  hoc  genere  iniuram  Ecclesiae  illatam  conquerimur. 

Porro  ea  Nos  magnopere  cogitatio  recreat,  in  perfunctione 
tam  gravi  tamque  difficili  ministerii  huius  praeclaro  Nobis  adiu- 
mento  vestram,  Venerabiles  Fratres,  et  prudentiam  et  navita- 
tem  fore.  Siquidem  ob  earn  praecipue  causam  adesse  Nobis, 
divino  munere  beneficioque.  Collegium  vestrura  novimus,  ut 
administrationem  Ecclesiae  universae,  consilia  operamque  con- 
ferendo,  utilissime  adiuvet.  Quocirca  dicere  vix  attinet,  illud 
Nos  solemnes  habituros,  in  omni  rerum  cursu,  praesertim  si  qua 
causa  gravior  inciderit,  iudicii  soUertiaeque  vestrae  subsidium 
expetere  ;  idque  eo  etiam,  ut  pro  sua  quisque  parte  immensum 
officii  onus,  quo  premimur  sustineatis.  Quippe  res  agitur  ea, 
quae  praeter  haec  fluxa  bnoa  ad  immortalia  pertineat ;  nullis 
locorum  inclusa  finibus,  orbis  terrarum  rationes  complectatur  ; 
evangehcorum  reverentiam  praeceptorum  in  omni  tueatur  genere; 
denique  curas  Nostras  non  ad  fideles  modo,  sed  ad  homines  afferat 
universos,  pro  quibiis  moriims  est  Christus. 

Itaque  mirari  licet,  esse  complures,  qui  novarum  rerum  cupi- 
dine,  ut  est  aetatis  ingenium,  coniicere  laborent,  quae  Nostra 


DOCUMENTS 


83 


gerendi  pontificatus  ratio  futura  sit.  Quasi  vero  investigatione 
res  egeat,  aut  planum  non  sit,  Nos  earn  ipsam  insistere  velle,  nec 
aliam  posse  viam,  quam  decessores  Nostri  usque  adhuc  instite- 
rint.  Instaurare  omnia  in  Christo,  hoc  ediximus  Nobis  esse  pro- 
positum  ;  et  quoniam  Christus  est  Veritas,  idcirco  obeundum  Nobis 
est  in  primis  magisterium  et  praeconium  veritatis.  Hinc  simplex 
dilucidus  sermo  lesu  Christi  et  efficax  perpetuo,  curabimus, 
dimanet  ex  ore  Nostro,  alteque  inculcetur  animis,  sancte  custo- 
diendus  ;  quam  quidem  custodiam  Ipse  adiumentum  dignoscendae 
veritatis  voluit  esse  maximum  :  Si  vos  manseritis  in  sermone  meo, 
vere  discipuli  mei  eritis.  Et  cognosceiis  veritatem,  et  Veritas  libe- 
rabit  vos.^ 

Pro  munere  autem  tuendae  veritatis  christianaeque  legis 
Nostrum  necessitate  erit  :  notiones  illustrare  et  asserere  maxi- 
marum  rerum,  sive  natura  informatas,  sive  divinitus  traditas, 
quas  nunc  obscuratas  passim  atque  obliteratas  videmus  ;  dis- 
ciplinae,  potestatis,  iustitiae  aequitatisque,  quae  convelluntur 
hodie,  principia  firmare  ;  universos  singulos,  neque  solum  qui 
parent,  sed  et  qui  imperant,  utpote  omnes  eodem  prognatos 
Patre,  in  privata  publicaque  vita,  in  genere  etiam  sociali  et 
politico  ad  honestatis  normam  regulamque  dirigere.  Utique 
intelligimus  nonnullis  offensioni  fore,  quod  dicimus,  curare  Nos 
rem  etiam  politicam  oportere.  Verum  quisque  aequus  rerum 
index  videt,  Pontificem  a  magisterio,  quod  gerit,  fidei  morumque 
nequaquam  posse  politicorum  genus  diiungere.  Praeterea  caput 
quum  sit  rectorque  summus  perfectae  societatis,  quae  est  Ecclesia, 
ex  hominibus  coalescentis,  inter  homines  constitutae  profecto 
velle,  debet,  cum  principibus  civitatum  et  gubernatoribus  rei 
publicae  mutua  sibi  of&cia  intercedere,  si  catholicorum  in  omni 
ora  ac  parte  terrarum  velit  et  securitati  et  libertati  esse  con- 
sul turn. 

Insitum  quidem  est  homini,  ut  veritatem  sitienter  appetat, 
oblatamque  amplexetur  amanter  et  retineat.  Sed  tamen  vitio 
naturae  fit,  ut  nimis  multi  nihil  oderint  peius,  quam  denuntia- 
tionem  veritatis,  utpote  quae  errores  ipsorum  nudet  cupidita- 
tesve  coerceat.  Horum  omnium  convicia  minaeque  Nos  minime 
commovebunt ;  sustentamur  quippe  admonitione  ilia  lesu  Christi  • 
Si  mundus  vos  adit,  scitote,  quia  me  priorem  vobis  odio  habuit.'^ 


1  loann.  viii,  31,  32. 
loann.  xv.  18. 


84  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


Caeterum  ilia,  de  quibus  quotidie  veritatem  catholicam  invidiose 
criminantur,  quod  libertatem  impediat,  quod  scientiae  officiat, 
quod  humanitatis  progiessiones  retardet,  num  disserere  opus  est 
quam  sint  plena  falsitatis  ?    Enimvero  infinitatem  sentiendi 
agendique  licentiam,  cui  nuUius  auctoritatis  nomen  nec  divinae 
nec  humanae  sit  sanctum,  nulla  sint  intacta  iura,  quaeque,  ordinis 
•  iisciplinaeque  fundamenta  convellens,  in  exitium  rapiat  civitates 
damnat  earn  quidem  Ecclesia  cohibendamque  severe  censet  ;  sed 
istud  corruptio  libertatis  est,  libertas  veri  nominis  non  est.  Sin- 
ceram  autem  germanamque  libertatem,  qua  nempe  cuique  liceat, 
quod  aequum  iustumque  sit  facere,  tantum  abest  ut  Ecclesia 
corapescat,  ut  expeditissimam  debere  esse  semper  contenderit. 
Nec  minus  distat  a  vero  quod  aiunt,  obsistere  scientiae  fidem  : 
quum  contra  verissimum  sit,  prodesse  etiam  nec  ita  parum. 
Praeter  enim  ea  quae  sunt  supra  naturam,  de  quibus  nulla  potest 
esse  homini  sine  fidei  cognitio,  multae  res  sunt  aeque  maximae 
in  ipso  naturae  ordine,  quas  quidem  sibi  pervias  habeat  humana 
ratio,  sed,  fidei  aucta  lumine,  multo  certius  clariusque  percipiat ; 
in  caeteris  autem  vera  veris  pugnantia  facere,  quando  utrumque 
genus  ab  uno  eodemque  capite  et  fonte,  Deo  nimirum,  proficiscitur, 
absurdum  est.    Ita  vel  ingeniorem  inventa,  vel  experientiae 
reperta,   vel  incrementa   disciplinarum,   quaecumque  demum 
actionem  vitae  mortalis  provehunt  in  melius,  quid  est  causae 
cur  Nobis,  qui  catholicae  veritatis  custodes  sumus,  non  probentur? 
Imo  est,  quare  fovenda  etiam,  Decessorum  exemplo,  videantur. 
At  vero  recentioris  philosophiae,  civilisque  prudentiae  decreta, 
quibus  hodie  humanarum  rerum  cursus  eo  impellitur,  quo  legis 
aeternae  praescripta  non  sinunt,  ea  Nos  refellere  et  redarguere, 
memores  Apostolici  officii,  debemus.    In  quo  quidem  non  humani- 
tatem  remoramur  progredientem,  sed  ne  ad  interitum  mat 
prohibemus. 

At  enim  necessarium  aggressi  pro  veritate  certamen  inimicos 
hostesbue  veritatis,  quorum  vehementer  miseret,  amantissime 
complectimur,  diviniaeque  benignitati  cum  lacrimis  com- 
mendamus.  Nam  si,  quae  vera  iusta  recta  sunt  probare  et  tueri, 
quae  falsa  iniusta  prava  detestari  et  reiicere,  lex  est  sanctissima 
romani  pontificatus ;  non  minus  est,  misericordiam  veniamque 
dilargiri  peccantibus,  idque  ad  similitudinem  Auctoris  sui,  qui 
pro  iransgressoribus  rogavit.  Siquidem  Deus,  qui  erat  in  Christo 
mundum  reconcilians  sibi,  per  Pontifices  romanos  potissime,  ut 
Vicarios  Filii  sui,  prorogari  in  aevum  vuluit  ministerium  reconci- 


DOCUMENTS 


85 


liaiionis,  quae  propterea  ab  earum  esset  auctoritate  iudicioque 
requirenda.  Autumare  igitur  reconciliandam  esse  Nobis  cum 
quopiam  gratiam,  esset  id  quidem  iniuriose  et  perverse  iudican- 
tium  de  munere  officioque  Nostro,  quo  ipso  debemus  paternam 
erga  omnes  gerere  voluntatem. 

Equidem  non  confidemus  quod  decessores  Nostri  nequivere, 
assequi  Nos  posse,  ut  late  fusos  errores  iniustitiamque  omnem 
vincat  usquequaque  Veritas  ;  in  id  tamen  summa  contentione, 
ut  diximus,  nitemur.  Quod  si  vota  Nostra  non  sunt  plene  even- 
tura,  illud  certe,  Deo  dante,  fiat  ut  impenium  veritatis  et  in  bonis 
constabiliatur,  et  ad  alios  complures,  non  male  animatos  pro- 
pagetur. 

Nunc  vero  iucundum  est,  animum  adiicere  ad  amplissimum 
Collegium  Vestrum,  Venerabiles  Fratres,  supplendum  ;  cuius 
honores  afficere  hodie  duos  lectos  viros  decrevimus.  Alter, 
vestris  ipsorum  testimoniis  per  interregnum  ornatus  praestan- 
tem  animi  et  ingenii  indolem,  paremque  gerendarum  rerum  pru- 
dentiam  paucis  hisce  mensibus  Nobis  egregie  probavit.  Alterius 
eximia  pietatis  doctrinaeque  ornamenta,  et  in  diuturna  episco- 
palis  procuratione  muneris  absolutam  numeris  omnibus  diligen- 
tiam  iamdiu  Ipsi  habemus  exploratissima.    li  autem  sunt  : 

RAPHAEL  MERRY  DEL  VAL,  Archiep.  Tit.  Nicaenus. 
lOSEPHUS  CALLEGARI,  Episcopus  Patavinus. 

Quid  vobis  videtur  ? 

Itaque  auctoritate  omnipotens  Dei,  sanctorum  Apostolorum 
Petri  et  Pauli,  et  Nostra,  creamus  et  publicamus  S.  R.  E.  Pres- 
byteros  Cardinales 

RAPHAELEM  MERRY  DEL  VAL 
lOSEPHUM  CALLEGARI 

Cum  dispensationibus,  derogationibus  et  clausulis  necessariis 
et  opportunis.    In  nomine  Patris  >i<  et  Filii  ^  et  Spiritus 
Sancti.  Amen. 


[   86  ] 


NOTICES  OF  BOOKS 

Studies  on  the  Gospels.  By  Rev.  Vincent  Rose,  O.P., 
Professor  in  the  University  of  Fribourg.  Authorised 
English  Translation  by  Mgr.  Robert  Eraser,  D.D., 
Domestic  Prelate  of  H.  H.  Pius  X. 

These  studies  from  the  pen  of  a  Catholic  University  Professor 
come  very  opportunely  at  the  present  time.  No  one  acquainted 
with  current  Theological  literature  needs  to  be  told  how  much 
attention  has  been  directed  of  late  to  the  Gospels,  or  how  momen- 
tous are  the  questions  that  have  been  raised.  In  England,  and 
even  among  the  clergy  of  its  Established  Church,  the  super- 
natural conception  and  virgin  birth  of  our  Saviour,  and  the 
character  and  extent  of  His  knowledge,  have  been  called  in 
question  ;  in  Germany  a  host  of  Rationalist  scholars,  led  by  the 
Berlin  Professor,  Harnack,  are  endeavouring  to  strip  Chris- 
tianity of  everything  supernatural,  and  to  wrest  the  Gospels 
into  a  confirmation  of  their  views  ;  while  in  France  startling 
theories,  alleged  to  be  based  on  the  Gospels,  regarding  the 
person  of  Christ,  His  Resurrection,  His  Church,  and  Sacraments, 
have  been  advanced  by  some  even  of  the  Catholic  clergy.  It  is  no 
longer  a  question  between  Protestants  and  us  as  to  which  is  the 
true  form  of  Christianity.  No,  Protestantism,  as  a  dogmatic 
faith,  is  practically  dead  ;  the  '  private  judgment,'  that  in  Luther's 
time  claimed  liberty  to  interpret  freely  the  text  of  Scripture,  has 
pushed  its  claim  to  the  extent  of  criticising  and  decidingjupon  the 
character  and  authority  of  the  Sacred  Books,  and  in  the  exer- 
cise of  this  claim  has  denied  their  inspiration  and  rejected  their 
supernatural  authority.  The  real  conflict,  then,  is  no  longer 
with  Protestants,  who  having  pinned  their  faith  to  the  Bible 
and  now  having  nothing  but  private  judgment  to  oppose  to  the 
private  judgment  of  Rationalists,  are  utterly  helpless  in  the 
domain  of  dogma.  It  is  with  Rationahsts  that  we  have  now 
more  than  ever  before,  to  deal,  with  men  who  deny  the  Divinity 
of  Christ,  the  existence  of  a  supernatural  religion,  and  the  in- 
spired authority  of  the  Scriptures,  and  who  endeavour  to  support 
their  denials  by  the  Gospel  story,  regarded  as  mere  history,  of 
Jesus  Christ  and  His  teaching. 


NOTICES  OF  BOOKS 


87 


The  work  before  us  is  meant  to  meet  the  Rationalists  on  their 
own  ground.  Father  Rose  takes  up  the  Gospels  as  ordinary  history, 
abstracting  entirely  from  their  inspired  authority,  and  in  eight 
'  studies  '  discusses  some  of  the  most  fundamental  questions  of 
Christianity.  The  subjects  with  which  he  deals  are  :  the  Four- 
fold Gospel ;  the  Supernatural  Conception ;  the  Kingdom  of  God  ; 
the  Heavenly  Father ;  the  Son  of  Man  ;  the  Son  of  God ;  the 
Redemption;  and  the  empty  tomb,  or  Resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ. 
This  bare  enumeration  of  the  subjects  is  enough  to  show  how 
intensely  interesting  and  important  these  '  studies  '  are.  Space 
will  not  permit  us  to  enter  into  detail,  but  we  would  recommend 
specially  the  treatment  of  the  fourfold  Gospel,  the  supernatural 
conception,  the  Divinity  of  Christ,  and  the  empty  tomb. 

Father  Rose's  method  throughout  is  critical,  and  scientific  in 
the  '  critical '  sense  ;  facts  and  texts  are  carefully  and  minutely 
scrutinised,  inspiration  and  the  Church's  authority  are  never 
invoked,  Jewish  history  is  made  to  shed  light  on  the  Gospel 
story,  and  the  whole  inquiry  is  conducted  in  a  calm  and  judicious 
spirit.  The  work  is,  indeed,  one  of  great  merit,  the  fruit  of  deep 
and  acute  thought,  and  reflects  credit  not  only  on  the  learned 
professor  himself,  but  on  the  great  Dominican  Order  to  which  he 
belongs. 

Having  said  so  much  in  praise  of  the  work,  which  we  heartily 
recommend  to  all  Scriptural  scholars,  we  desire,  in  view  of  a 
second  edition,  which  we  hope  soon  to  see  needed,  to  notice  a 
few  points  that  have  attracted  our  attention.  To  begin  with, 
on  the  last  page  of  the  introduction,  Acts  iv.  12  is  not  quoted 
quite  accurately.  The  rendering  given  is  not  in  agreement  with 
the  Douay  version,  nor  with  the  Greek  text,  nor  with  the  Latm 
Vulgate— though  the  latter  may,  at  first  sight,  seem  ambiguous. 
In  the  note  in  Greek  at  the  foot  of  page  48  om/)  is  omitted  after 
kot'.  In  the  note  on  page  6g  the  reasons  given  to  prove  that  it 
is  the  genealogy  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  that  is  given  by  St.  Luke, 
are  inconclusive.  They  would  prove  that  St.  Matthew  too,  even 
though  writing  for  Jews,  should  have  given  the  genealogy  of 
Mary.  For  Matthew  as  well  as  Luke  had  recorded  the  virgin 
birth,  and  for  him  as  well  as  Luke  it  was  only  through  Mary 
that  the  blood  of  David  was  transmitted  to  our  Saviour.  In 
this  same  note  it  is  stated  that  St.  Luke,  xviii.  38,  affirms  that 
Jesus  is  really  the  son  of  David,  whereas  in  reahty  St.Luke  merely 
records  the  words  of  the  blind  man  at  Jericho,  just  as  St.  Matthew 
does,  XX.  30. 


'88 


THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


Again,  too  little  stress  is  laid  upon  the  witness  of  St.  Matthew, 
who  indeed  is  hardly  more  than  alluded  to,  in  establishing  the 
supernatural  conception.  On  page  187,  some  of  the  postulates 
require  to  be  reconsidered  and  proved,  in  view  of  the  recent 
statements  of  men  like  Loisy.  On  page  201,  Matt.  xxii.  46, 
Mark  xii.  35,  37,  are  ascribed  to  the  early  preaching  of  Christ, 
but  the  context  in  both  cases  shows  this  to  be  inaccurate.  Finally 
on  page  306,  we  read  :  '  We  concede  to  Harnack  that  those  theo- 
logians reason  superficially  for  whom  Christianity  rests  on  faith 
in  the  resurrection.  The  Apologist  who  would  bring  an  unpre- 
pared mind  to  the  tomb  of  Jesus  would  be  inexperienced,  naive. 
The  first  proceeding  of  him  who  is  invited  to  believe  should  be, 
it  seems  to  us,  to  come  in  contact  with  Jesus  Christ  Himself,  to 
study  His  teaching,  to  examine  the  value  of  the  testimony  which 
this  Man  gave  of  Himself,  touching  His  Divine  origin.  He  will 
follow  that  life  to  its  term,  and  he  will  at  length  find  himself  at 
the  dawn  of  the  resurrection  day.  Then  only  will  meditation  at 
the  mouth  of  the  tomb  be  fruitful.'  Now,  in  a  sense,  this  is 
very  true,  in  the  sense,  namely,  that  Christ's  resurrection  is  not 
the  only  and  exclusive  evidence  of  Christianity,  and  that  it  ought 
to  be  viewed  in  connexion  with  His  predictions  regarding  it. 
But  if  it  be  meant  the  resurrection  is  not  a  valid  and  even  con- 
clusive evidence  of  Christianity,  we  doubt  whether  the  concession 
made  to  Harnack  is  justified.  For  either  the  resurrection  is 
absolutely  guaranteed  by  the  Gospels  or  it  is  not.  If  it  is,  then 
we  cannot  admit  that  a  theologian  would  reason  superficially, 
even  if  he  rested  his  faith  on  it  alone.  For  if  Christ  raised  Him- 
self from  the  dead.  He  must  be  more  than  man,  and  if,  being  more 
than  man,  He  founded  a  religion,  that  religion  must  have  Divine 
authority.  On  the  other  hand,  if  the  resurrection  is  not  gauran- 
teed  fully  and  absolutely  by  the  Gospels,  it  can  only  be  because 
they  are  unreliable,  for  all  four  most  clearly  state  the  fact  ;  and 
if  they  are  unreliable  here,  how  are  we  to  know  that  we  can  '  come 
in  contact  with  Jesus  Christ  Himself,'  where  can  we  be  sure  that 
we  have  His  teaching,  or  the  testimony  that  He  bore  to  Himself  ? 
In  other  words,  if  we  cannot  rest  our  faith  on  the  resurrection, 
as  testified  to  by  the  four  Gospels  in  the  clearest  language,  how 
can  we  rest  it  on  anything  they  testify  ?  We  thought  it  necessary 
to  make  these  remarks,  in  order  to  guard  the  reader  against  a 
ve  ry  possible  misunderstanding. 

We  wish  Father  Rose's  work,  in  its  English  dress,  every 
success,  and  we  congratulate  him  heartily  on  the  excellent  and 


NOTICES  OF  BOOKS 


89 


timely  contribution  he  has  made  to  a  most  important  branch  of 
New  Testament  study.  Our  thanks  are  due  to  Monsignor  Fraser, 
D.D.,  Rector  of  the  Scotch  College,  Rome,  for  the  admirable 
manner  in  which  he  has  done  the  work  of  translation. 

J.  MacR. 

A  Hebrew  and  English  Lexicon  of  the  Old  Testament. 
Oxford  :  Clarendon  Press.  Part  XI.  -i^sy-pp.  Price  2s.  6d. 
1894. 

All  students  of  Hebrew  will  rejoice  at  the  approaching  com- 
pletion of  this  desirable  work  which  is  based  on  the  Lexicon  of 
Gesenius.  Since  the  issue  of  its  first  part  in  1892  the  present 
reviewer  has  successively  used  each  part  as  it  appeared,  and 
almost  invariably  with  satisfaction.  The  most  recent  discoveries 
in  Biblical  topography,  archaeology,  etc.,  as  well  as  the  best  results 
of  Semitic  philology  are  made  use  of  or  embodied  in  its  pages. 
The  English  work  is  far  superior  to  the  modern  German  editions 
of  Gesenius  by  Miihlau  and  Volck,  indeed  from  the  purely 
liguistic  standpoint  it  comes  as  near  to  perfection  as  could  well 
be  expected.  Besides  the  perspicuous  arrangement  of  its  articles 
the  ingenious  devices  for  saving  the  reader's  time,  and  the  abun- 
dant references— all  placed  in  order — make  it  a  pleasure  to 
consult  this  book.  For  numberless  words  it  may  well  serve  as 
a  Concordance,  and  it  is  more  exact  than  Mandelkern's  cum- 
brous volume.  Special  attention  has  been  paid  to  the  usage  of 
the  cognate  languages  in  so  far  as  it  helps  to  determine  or  to  illus- 
trate the  precise  meaning  of  a  Hebrew  word.  But  where  this 
has  been  done  so  fully,  one  could  wish  that  in  reference  to  the 
more  important  passages  of  the  Old  Testament,  v.g.,  the  Messi- 
anic prophecies,  the  testimony  of  the  ancient  versions  had  been 
mentioned.  This  was  one  of  the  most  valuable  features  of  the 
Thesaurus.  It  would  have  been  better  to  preserve  it  than  to 
make  room  for  notices  of  the  characteristic  diction  of  E.,  J.,  and 
other  airy  creations  of  higher  criticism,  about  whom  no  sensible 
person  as  such  cares  one  jot.  No  one,  in  fact,  believes  in  their 
existence  except  those  who  disbelieve  Scripture.  Finally,  it 
must  be  said  that  as  a  Hebrew  Lexicon  is  a  work  on  a  sacred 
subject,  on  the  language  of  part  of  the  inspired  volume,  the 
occurrence  in  it  of  rationalists'  names  is  an  unseemly  intrusion. 
They  may  have  been  good  linguists,  but  they  were  bad  expounders 
of  Scripture. 


90  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


It  is  certain  that  those  among  our  readers  who  may  use  this 
Lexicon  will  be  able  to  avail  themselves  of  its  many  notable 
excellencies,  and  at  the  same  time  to  keep  themselves  unaffected 
by  blemishes  and  shortcomings  such  as  have  been  here  indicated. 
To  all  these  readers  it  is  heartily  recommended. 

R.  W. 

The  Blessed  Virgin  in  the  Nineteenth  Century  : 
Apparitions,  Revelations,  Graces.  By  Bernard  St. 
John.  London  :  Burns  &  Oates,  Limited.  New  York  : 
Benziger  Bros.    Price  6s. 

In  view  of  the  commemoration  next  year  of  the  fiftieth  anni- 
versary of  the  definition  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  of  the 
Mother  of  God,  the  book  under  review  should  prove  both  oppor- 
tune and  interesting.  For  it  comes  in  seasonable  time  to  tell  us 
in  plain  and  simple  narrative  of  the  kindly  visitations  with  which 
the  Blessed  Virgin,  during  the  century  just  closed,  has  favoured 
this  vale  of  tears,  and  of  the  goodly  heritage  of  blessings  that 
have  followed  in  the  wake  of  each  earth-coming. 

Is  there  not  need  to  marvel  that  the  country  selected  for  the 
scene  of  our  Lady's  most  glorious  apparitions  is  the  one  that 
to-day  lifts  her  heel  against  the  Church  of  Christ,  and,  in  the 
Saviour's  words,  '  stonest  them  that  are  sent  to  her  '  ?  Yet  so 
it  is.  France,  the  modern  home  of  religious  disquiet  and  oppres- 
sion, is  the  highly  favoured  land  that  has  witnessed  these  very  re- 
markable supernatural  manifestations  of  the  Virgin's  good-will, 
and  enjoyed  the  fullest  measure  of  her  fostering  solicitude.  It 
was  here  that  Sister  Catherine  Laboure,  of  the  Order  of  Charity 
founded  by  St.  Vincent  de  Paul,  had,  in  1830,  the  revelation  in 
which  she  received  the  miraculous  medal  of  the  Immaculate 
Conception.  About  the  same  year  the  shrine  of  '  Notre  Dame 
des  Victoires  '  in  Paris  was  made  famous  when  the  good  cur6 
M.  des  Genettes,  was  inspired  to  found  the  Arch-Confraternity 
of  the  Immaculate  Heart  of  Mary.  A  little  later  our  Lady 
unveiled  herself  to  the  shepherd-children,  Maxiniin  and  Melanie, 
at  Salette,  high  up  in  the  almost  inaccessible  peaks  of  the  Alps, 
while  some  dozen  years  later,  when  the  star  of  La  Salette  was 
waning  in  its  brilliancy,  a  new  light  appeared  in  a  grotto  among 
the  Pyrenees  which  has  scarce  lost  a  particle  of  its  lustre  even 
to  this  day.  This  time  Bernadotte  was  the  privileged  voyante 
The  apparition  at  Lourdes  is  celebrated  even  to  the  ends  of  the 


NOTICES  OF  BOOKS 


91 


earth,  and  it  is  not  easy  to  say  whether  its  world-wide  celebrity 
is  due  more  to  the  impious  pen  of  Zola,  or  to  the  sympathetic 
and  reverent  labours  of  Henri  Lassere.  Two  other  less  renowned 
apparitions  are  recorded  in  this  book — that  of  Portmain,  near 
the  town  of  Laval,  and  Pellevoisin  in  the  diocese  of  Bourges. 
Glancing  over  the  volume  before  us  we  can  trace,  as  it  were, 
the  triumphant  progress  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  through  France 
in  the  nineteenth  century.  And  what  strikes  us  as  strange  is, 
that  nearly  in  all  cases  the  Virgin  revealed  herself  to  children, 
thus  fulfilling  in  herself  what  the  Psalmist  predicted  of  her  Son, 
'  Ex  ore  infantium  et  lactentium  perfecisti  laudem.' 

The  author  narrates  these  wonderful  occurrences  with  a 
simple,  unhesitating,  unwavering  faith.  His  is  not  the  carping, 
critical  spirit  that  would  banish  the  supernatural  altogether  from 
mundane  affairs.  At  the  same  time  he  relates  nothing  of  the 
miraculous  that  is  not  vouched  for  and  attested  to  by  unimpeach- 
able authority.  The  book  is  sure  to  do  much  good.  Those  who 
have  faith  and  confidence  in  the  intercessory  powers  of  the 
Mother  of  God  will,  on  reading  it,  have  their  faith  made  firmer 
and  their  confidence  stronger.  The  publishers  have  executed 
their  work  well,  but  we  would  prefer  to  be  spared  the  trouble  of 
having  to  cut  the  pages. 

P.  M. 

History  of  Ireland.    From  the  Earliest  Times  to  the 
Year  1547.  By  Rev.  E.  A.  Dalton,  C.C.   Dublin,  1903. 

Father  Dalton  deserves  the  earnest  thanks  of  the  supporters 
of  the  Irish  Ireland  movement  by  the  publication  of  his  History 
of  Ireland.  In  doing  so  he  has  placed  at  the  disposal  of  students 
a  scholarly,  and  at  the  same  time,  a  racy  and  interesting  narra- 
tive of  our  country's  affairs  down  to  the  Reformation  struggles. 
Though  we  must  honestly  confess  that,  personally,  we  should 
prefer  a  real  scientific  study  according  to  the  method  sketched 
by  O'Curry  in  his  closing  lecture  at  the  Catholic  University, 
of  ten  years  of  Irish  history,  to  a  dozen  handbooks  covering  the 
whole  or  nearly  the  whole  period,  yet,  judging  the  handbook 
by  its  own  standard,  as  we  must  do,  we  are  convinced  that 
Father  Dalton's  is  one  of  the  best  yet  published. 

The  volume  before  us  evidently  represents  years  of  patient 
study  and  research.  It  was  not  in  a  month  nor  in  a  year  the 
writer  could  have  consulted  the  sources  and  literature  on  Irish 
history  upon  which  he  relied  for  his  information,  especially  when 


92  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


we  remember  that  the  great  pubUc  hbraries  were  not  within  easy 
reach,  and  the  moments  of  leisure  of  a  hard-working  missionary 
priest  are,  as  a  rule,  short  and  far  between.  Father  Dalton  has 
spared  no  pains  to  put  the  facts  of  Irish  history  honestly  before 
his  readers.  He  seems  to  have  fully  realized  that  it  is  the  duty 
of  the  historian  to  strive  after  the  truth,  and  not  to  waste  his 
energies  in  bolstering  up  defences  of  pre-conceived  theories  and 
opinions.  But  the  author  aimed  at  something  more  than  the 
bald  presentation  of  facts ;  he  strove  to  sketch,  at  least  in  out- 
line, a  real  living  picture  not  only  of  the  political  movements, 
but  also  of  the  culture,  the  social  life  of  Ancient  and  Middle  Age 
Ireland,  and  to  a  great  extent  he  has  been  successful  in  his  efforts. 
He  has  given  us  a  book,  which,  unlike  most  of  the  publications  of 
the  same  kind,  arouses  the  interest  of  his  readers,  and  compels 
them  to  read  on  from  page  to  page  and  from  chapter  to  chapter. 

Still,  as  we  have  constituted  ourselves  critics  of  his  work 
we  feel  in  duty  bound  to  find  or  pretend  that  we  have  found, 
some  points  that  might  excite  hostile  criticism.  Though  Father 
Dalton  has  generally  consulted  standard  authorities  for  his 
opinions,  yet,  now  and  again,  we  find  him  citing  in  support  of 
his  views  writers  who  are  themselves  by  no  means  reliable,  or 
who  at  best  are  recognised  as  only  compilers.  The  citation  of 
such  authorities,  however  correct  their  statements  may  be,  tends 
only  to  arouse  the  suspicion  of  the  reader,  and  to  subtract  a 
great  deal  from  the  scholarly  finish  of  a  work.  Again,  the  author 
despatches  very  briefly,  indeed,  the  work  of  the  Irish  missionaries 
on  the  Continent,  and  in  doing  so,  we  believe  he  makes  a  very 
serious  mistake.  We  have  heard  a  learned  German  professor 
in  a  three  months'  course  of  lectures  which  covered  the  whole 
Middle  Age  period  of  Church  history,  devote  nine  or  ten  lectures 
to  the  influence  of  the  Irish  missionaries  on  Religion,  on  Learning 
on  Scholastic  Philosophy,  on  the  Penitential  System,  and  Civil 
and  Canon  Law,  on  Manuscript  Writing  and  Illumination,  and 
on  the  Arts  generally,  and  we  are  convinced  that  the  subject 
was  worthy  of  the  attention  he  paid  to  it.  We  trust  that  Father 
Dalton  will  see  his  way  to  give  us  a  more  extended  treatment  of 
this  chapter  in  his  next  edition. 

There  are  some  statements,  too,  in  the  book  with  which  we 
cannot  find  ourselves  in  agreement.  We  do  not,  for  instance, 
see  why  the  author  should  be  so  positive  in  asserting  that  St. 
Columba's  going  to  lona  was  due  rather  to  the  penance  of  St. 


NOTICES  OF  BOOKS 


93 


Molaise  than  to  the  spirit  of  missionary  3^eal  which  had  already 
driven  so  many  of  his  countrymen  abroad.  The  statement  that 
no  trace  of  Pelagianism  in  Ireland  is  to  be  found  in  Irish  Annals 
would  require  explanation,  as  the  Annals  of  Clonmacnoise  seem 
to  state  expressly  that  the  Pelagian  heresy  had  found  some 
following  in  the  country.  Neither  do  we  believe  that  the  abduc- 
tion of  the  wife  of  O'Rourke  exercised  any  serious  influence  in 
bringing  about  the  English  invasion,  nor  that  the  picture  drawn 
by  St.  Bernard  of  the  low  state  of  morality  in  Ireland  at  the 
beginning  of  the  twelfth  century  is  to  be  interpreted  strictly  and 
to  the  letter,  especially  when  even  the  author  himself  would 
admit  that  the  saint's  account  of  the  wonderful  reformation 
wrought  by  Malachy  must  be  accepted  as  an  impassioned  pane- 
gyric, rather  than  as  a  simple  presentation  of  facts. 

But  these  are  points  of  little  moment  about  which  every 
student  has  a  right  to  advance  his  own  views.  We  offer  the 
author  our  sincere  congratulations  on  the  work  which  he  has 
published,  and  we  look  forward  with  pleasure  to  the  publication 
of  the  second  volume  of  his  History. 

J.  MacC. 

GeSCHICHTE  DER  AlTKIRCHLICHEN    LiTERATUR  von  OfTO 

Bardenhewer,  Professor  der  Theologie  an  Der  Univer- 
sitat  Munchen.    II.  Band.    Freiburg,  iqo3. 

By  his  standard  work  on  Patrology  Bardenhewer  is  already 
favourably  known  to  some  of  our  readers.  But  useful  as  this 
work  was,  the  learned  author,  on  account  of  the  interest  excited 
nowadays  on  Early  Christian  literature,  and  especially  in  view 
of  the  publications  of  his  countrymen  Harnack  and  Kriiger,  felt 
that  a  more  extended  treatment  of  the  subject  was  necessary. 
Hence,  he  resolved  to  write  a  complete  history  of  the  Ecclesias- 
tical Literature  of  the  first  centuries  in  six  volumes,  the  first  of 
which  has  already  appeared,  and  was  enthusiastically  received 
even  in  the  most  critical  Protestant  circle  of  Germany.  The 
present  volume  covers  the  whole  of  the  third  century,  the  period 
when  the  energies  of  the  ecclesiastical  writers  seem  first  to  have 
been  devoted  to  a  scientific  exposition  of  the  Christian  System 
of  Theology,  based  on  Philosophy  and  History.  The  Eastern 
Church,  under  the  influence  of  the  learning  and  civilization  of 
Ancient  Greece,  naturally  took  the  lead  in  such  a  movement,  and 
Alexandria,  standing  as  it  did  between  the  two  civilizations— the 


94  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


meeting  point  of  the  world — became  famous  as  a  Christian  centre. 
From  Alexandria  the  movement  spread  to  Jerusalem  and  Cses-  - 
area,  and  thence  to  Asia  Minor.  This  will  serve  to  explain  the 
classes  into  which  our  author  groups  the  Eastern  writers.  In 
the  West  the  difficulties  were  greater.  The  want  of  a  termino- 
logy with  which  to  clothe  theological  opinions  seemed  to  have 
effectually  barred  the  way  to  the  creation  of  a  Latin  Ecclesias- 
tical literature.  But  the  Church  of  Africa  came  to  the  rescue, 
above  all,  the  first  of  the  Latin  Apologists,  Tertullian.  His 
example  was  followed  by  Cyprian  and  Lactantius.  Of  the  purely 
Roman  writers  Hippolytus  is  by  far  the  most  important.  The 
present  volume,  then,  is  a  review  of  this  whole  field,  Eastern  and 
Western,  of  the  works  of  such  men  as  Clement  of  Alexandria, 
Origen,  Julius  Africanus,  Firmilian  of  Caesarea,  Tertulhan, 
Cyprian,  Lactantius,  and  Hippolytus.  Nobody  who  has  any 
acquaintance  with  Patristic  studies  can  doubt  the  importance  of 
such  a  period.  It  is  a  volume  which  does  credit  to  Catholic 
scholarship.  No  man  need  fear  to  quote  Bardenhewer  in  any 
learned  assembly.  The  name  of  the  author,  together  with  the 
authorities  which  he  cites,  are  sufficient  to  guarantee  his  opinions. 

In  his  concluding  chapters  the  author  gives  an  account  of  the 
earliest  '  Acta  Martyrum  '  and  their  publications,  as  well  as  of 
the  heathen  and  Jewish  works  which  were  utilized  by  the  Chris- 
tians and  modified  to  suit  their  purposes.  The  book  is  one  which 
we  should  like  to  see  in  the  hands  of  every  man  who  wishes  to 
make  an  earnest  study  of  Patristic  literature. 

J.  MacC. 

The  Beginnings  of  Christianity.  By  Rev.  Thomas 
Shahan,  S.T.D.,  J.U.L.,  Professor  of  Church  History 
in  the  Catholic  University,  Washington.  New  York  : 
Benziger  Bros.    1903.    Price  8s. 

The  interest  aroused  in  recent  years  by  the  study  of  early 
Ecclesiastical  history  is  shown  in  the  number  of  eminent  scholars 
who  have  devoted  themselves  to  such  a  work.  Catholic,  Pro- 
testant, and  Rationalist  ahke  seem  to  have  fully  realized  that 
the  first  centuries  of  our  era  are  the  field  on  which  the  battle  of 
the  Church  and  of  Christianity  is  to  to  be  lost  or  won.  Men  of 
such  opposite  views  as  Harnack  and  Funk,  Duchesne,  Battifol, 
Le  Camus,  Loisy,  Semeria,  Giffert,  not  to  speak  of  a  host  of 
others  equally  distinguished,  are  unanimous  in  their  appreciation 


NOTICES  OF  BOOKS 


95 


of  the  issues  at  stake.  We  are  glad,  then,  that  the  young  Catholic 
University  of  America,  which  has  done  so  much  and  which 
promises  to  do  so  much  for  English-speaking  Catholicity,  has 
thrown  itself  into  the  work. 

We  warmly  congratulate  Professor  Shahan  on  his  book. 
At  first,  believing  as  we  did  from  the  title  that  it  was  a 
regular  scientific  study  after  the  model  of  Duchesne,  of  the 
beginnings  of  Christianity,  we  were  somewhat  disappointed 
to  find  that  it  was  only  a  reprint  of  essays  published  in  some  of 
the  American  magazines  on  some  striking  subject  connected 
with  early  Church  history.  Amongst  these  essays  we  find  such 
chapters  as  '  St.  Paul,  Teacher  of  the  Nations,'  '  Slavery  and 
Free  Labour  in  Ancient  Rome,'  '  The  Origin  of  Christmas,' 
'  Woman  in  Pagan  Antiquity  and  in  the  Early  Christian  Com- 
munities,' '  The  Church  and  the  Empire  (a.d.  250-312).'  The 
last  chapter  entitled  '  The  Columbus  of  the  Catacombs,'  is  fit- 
tingly devoted  to  the  great  Catholic  archseologist,  De  Rossi, 
who  according  to  a  very  competent  authority  was  the  glory  of 
the  Church  in  the  nineteenth  century.  These  essays  written  in 
the  easy  flowing  style  of  the  magazine  bear  traces  of  the  deep 
study  and  careful  research  of  the  author.  They  remind  us  in 
many  things  of  the  work  done  by  Allies  in  our  own  Catholic 
University  in  days  long  since  gone  by.  We  are  confident  that 
the  present  volume  is  only  an  introduction  to  the  publications 
which  we  may  expect  from  the  learned  Professor  of  Church 
History  in  Washington. 

J.  MacC. 

The  Life  and  Pontificate  of  Leo  XIIL    By  P.  Justin 
O'Byme.    London :  Washbourne.  1903. 

In  the  history  of  the  nineteenth  century  the  name  of  Leo 
XIII.  must  always  hold  a  prominent  place.  In  Religion,  in 
Politics,  in  the  struggles  between  Capital  and  Labour,  in  Educa- 
tion, in  Biblical  and  Historical  Studies,  the  late  Pontiff  proved 
that  the  Church  was  not  false  to  her  traditions,  and  that  she  was 
ever  ready  to  lead  the  way. 

Many  authors  in  almost  all  languages  have  already  under- 
taken to  write  his  life.  Amongst  the  latest  English  works  is 
that  under  review  from  the  pen  of  Mr.  O'Byme.  It  is  a  book 
which  we  read  with  the  greatest  interest.  The  first  six  chapters 
are  devoted  to  a  careful  review  of  the  life  of  Leo  before  the 


96  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


Conclave  of  1878.  The  author  deals  in  the  following  chapters 
with  the  Conclave  and  the  relations  of  the  Holy  See  at  the  time 
with  the  different  countries,  the  Reunion  of  the  Eastern  Churches, 
Leo  and  England,  Leo  and  Germany,  Leo  and  Ireland,  Leo  and 
France,  Leo  and  America,  the  Pope  and  the  Workmen,  the  Pope 
and  Society.  These  very  titles  indicate  clearly  the  author's 
method  of  treatment.  It  is  written  in  an  easy,  taking  style  ; 
and  altogether  is  a  work  which  we  can  recommend. 

J.  MacC. 

Saint  Cuthbert's.  By  Rev.  J.  E.  Copus,  S.J.  Author  of 
'  Harry  Russel,  a  Rockland  College  Boy.'  New  York, 
Cincinnati,  Chicago  :  Benziger  Bros.    Price  3s.  6d. 

This  is  a  real  good  book  for  boys.  It  treats  of  life  with  its 
lights  and  shadows,  successes  and  reverses,  in  an  American 
middle-class  Catholic  school.  If  St.  Cuthbert's  is  representative 
of  its  class,  we  may  conclude  that  the  American  Catholic  youth 
is  trained  to  play  his  part  in  life  in  an  atmosphere  where  a  high 
moral  tone  prevails,  and  along  lines  best  calculated  to  develop  a 
character  in  which,  honour,  manliness,  frankness,  and  sincerity 
are  very  conspicuous.  The  writing  is  easy  and  graceful. 
There  is  no  exaggeration  or  impossibility  in  the  situations  the 
author  pictures,  and  his  portraits  seem  to  be  as  real  as  it  is  possible 
to  find  them  in  a  work  of  fiction.  For  the  youthful  the  book  may 
be  warmly  recommended. 

P.  M. 


THE  GREAT  WESTERN  SCHISM  '\ 

IN  his  recent  work,  Christianity  andj  Civilization,  Mr. 
Lilly  has  dealt  with  many  interesting  problems, 
perhaps  none  more  so  than  that  discussed  in  his 
introductory  chapter — '  The  Philosophy  of  History.' 
Here,  the  author  is  inclined  to  maintain  that  the  old  view 
put  forward  by  St.  Augustine  in  his  City  of  God  is  not  so 
far  from  the  truth,  and  that  the  facts  of  history  unmistak- 
ably point  to  the  existence  of  an  all-seeing  Ruler,  who  is 
sure  to  visit  the  lapses  of  the  nation  as  well  as  those  of  the 
individual  with  a  speedy  and  adequate  retribution. 

If  this  be  the  moral  of  history  in  general — and  the  facts 
seem  to  warrant  the  conclusion — what  shall  we  say  of  the 
history  of  the  Church  ?  Is  there  anything  in  the  story  of 
its  origin  and  growth  and  development ;  in  its  ceaseless 
struggles  against  open  foes  and  secret  betrayers  who  would 
handle  irreverently,  if  not  discard,  the  deposit  committed 
to  its  charge  ;  in  its  endeavours,  despite  of  menace  or  bribe, 
to  uphold  its  liberty  and  independent  jurisdiction  against 
the  encroachments  of  unscrupulous  rulers ;  in  its  universality 
of  time  and  place  and  people,  and  yet  its  unbroken  and 
apparently  unbreakable  imity;  its  conservatism  and  yet  its 
progress  ;  its  unchangeableness  and  yet  its  capability  of 
adaptation — is  there  anything  in  aU  this  which,  in  the  eyes 
of  the  scientific  investigator,  must  distinguish  the  Church 


^  La  France  et  Ic  Grande  Schisme  d'Occident.  Par  Noel  Valois.  4  vols. 
1896-1902.    Paris:  Picard  et  Fils. 

FOURTH  SERIES,  VOL.  XV. — FEBRUARY,  1904.  G 


98 


THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


from  all  civil  institutions,  and  make  him,  at  least,  pause 
before  answering  the  question  :  '  Is  it  entirely  the  work  of 
man,  the  product  of  human  brains  assisted  by  human 
credulity  ?  ' 

We  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  the  history  of  the 
Church,  though  it  may  not  always  convince  the  earnest 
inquirer  that  he  is  dealing  with  a  society  maintained  by  a 
power  higher  than  that  of  man,  yet,  it  will  certainly  force 
him  to  think  more  kindly  of  those  who  put  forward  such 
an  opinion.  Scandals  he  may  meet  with,  we  admit — the 
weaknesses,  the  passions,  the  struggles  of  poor  human 
ambition  may  stand  out  before  his  gaze — but  taking  the 
Church  all  in  all,  in  itself  and  in  its  effects  on  the  civiliza- 
tion of  the  world,  it  cannot  fail  to  make  a  lasting  impression 
on  the  really  scientific  mind,  and  to  awaken  doubts,  if  not 
to  convey  clearly,  that  it  is  not  like  the  kingdoms  of  this 
world — of  the  earth,  earthly. 

Hence,  we  have  long  been  convinced  that  Catholics  need 
not  fear  to  face,  in  a  straightforward  manner,  the  facts  of 
ecclesiastical  history.  If  there  have  been  unworthy  Popes 
— and  the  number  of  such  is  very  limited  indeed  ;  if  there 
have  been  abuses  and  dissensions  which  reflect  little  credit 
on  the  overseers  ;  if  men,  who  entered  the  sanctuary  and 
devoted  themselves  to  God,  forgot  God  and  the  Church 
for  the  sake  of  their  own  petty  personal  ambitions ;  if  the 
human  element  in  the  Church's  constitution  became  at 
times  painfully  evident — what  do  all  these  things  prove  ? 
That  the  Church  has  no  divine  sanction  or  support  ? 
Nothing  of  the  kind.  For  so  long  as  the  Church  is  amongst 
men  and  ruled  by  men,  however  the  spirit  of  God  may 
encircle  it,  human  passions  must  have  their  play.  On  the 
contrary,  when  we  consider  the  work  of  the  Church  as  a 
whole,  standing  out  before  us  as  the  one  institution  which 
remains  essentially  unchanged  since  the  days  of  Christ 
amidst  kingdoms  which  were  ever  changing,  growing  strong 
instead  of  waning  with  the  succession  of  centuries,  the 
mistakes  and  mismanagements  of  its  rulers  at  times,  disas- 
trous as  they  would  have  been  to  any  civil  society,  serve 
to  bring  out  more  prominently  the  guidance  that  is  divine. 


THE  GREAT  WESTERN  SCHISM 


99 


The  story  of  the  Great  Western  Schism  will  perfectly 
exemplify  our  meaning.  It  is  a  sad  chapter  in  the  history 
of  the  Church  ;  in  some  respects,  perhaps  the  saddest.  There 
we  see  the  great  Christian  society,  infected  by  the  spirit  of 
political  Nationalism  which  was  then  passing  over  Europe, 
torn  up  into  warring  sections  ;  the^  spectacle  of  rival  Popes 
each  claiming  to  be  the  successor  of  St.  Peter  and  en- 
forcing his  claims  by  temporal  as  well  as  spiritual  arms. 
These  were  days  when  honest  Christians  were  saddened 
beyond  expression,  days  of  tribulation  and  sorrow  for  the 
Church,  when  the  Divine  promise  seemed  forgotten,  and 
the  hour  of  the  evil  spirit  had  come. 

Yet,  if  we  look  below  the  surface  we  find  much  that  is 
consoling.  We  find  that,  however  much  the  Christian  world 
was  divided,  the  principle  of  unity  was  never  for  a  moment 
forgotten.  Unity  was  the  watchword  of  the  contending 
parties.  Men  differed  about  the  claims  of  the  rival  Popes 
and  with  justification  ;  opinions  varied  as  to  the  methods 
to  be  employed,  but  the  opponents  were  at  one  in  the  end 
at  which  they  aimed — union  under  the  rightful  Pope.  The 
bond  of  religious  unity  held  fast  despite  the  dividing  influ- 
ences of  political  and  racial  jealousy.  Had  any  civil  king- 
dom undergone  such  a  test  the  contending  parties  would 
never  freely  come  together.  If  this  be  so  in  the  state  where 
so  many  unifying  influences  are  at  work — common  ancestry, 
tastes,  language,  and  ideals — to  what  shall  we  attribute  the 
restoration  of  harmony  in  the  Church,  brought  about  in 
spite  of  political  divisions  ? 

We  have  never  been  inclined  to  underrate  the  difficulties 
which  impeded  the  efforts  towards  reunion — difficulties 
which  were  certainly  not  lessened  by  the  actions  of  the  rival 
Popes — and  a  careful  survey  of  Valois'  monumental  work 
has  only  served  to  deepen  our  convictions  on  this  aspect  of 
the  question.  Numberless  authors  have  already  under- 
taken this  chapter  in  the  life  of  the  Church,  men  like  Mansi, 
Martene,  Baluzius,  Rinaldi,  Hefele,  Gayet,  and  Salembiei, 
whose  ability  and  earnestnesss  cannot  be  questioned,  yet, 
never  before  have  we  found  anything  on  the  subject  approach- 
ing so  closely  our  ideal  of  a  strictly  scientific  historical 


THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


treatise.  M.  Valois  holds  a  brief  for  neither  obedience. 
No  doubt,  good  Frenchman  that  he  is,  he  seeks  to  justify 
in  a  great  measure  the  action  of  France  throughout  the 
terrible  crisis,  and  with  his  views  on  this  point  we  do  not 
always  find  ourselves  in  agreement. 

But  his  method  claims  our  admiration.  Brushing  aside 
the  comments  of  interested  partisans  he  pushes  his  investi- 
gations back  to  the  sources  themselves,  with  the  calmness 
and  the  impartiality  of  the  judge  he  examines  the  docu- 
ments piece  by  piece,  and  thus,  builds  up  his  narrative  with 
constant  references  to  his  authorities.  Afterwards  he  pro- 
nounces his  opinions,  but,  as  he  declares  himself ,  the  research 
and  criticism  of  texts  of  all  classes  which  could  serve  as  a 
basis  for  the  history  of  the  Great  Western  Schism  has  been 
his  first  care,  and,  for  the  rest,  the  reader  may  accept  or 
reject  the  conclusions  which  are  advanced  without  inter- 
fering with  the  work  as  a  whole. 

Was  Urban  VI.  the  lawful  Pope  ?  Was  he  freely  chosen 
by  the  Sacred  College,  or  was  his  election  the  result  of  the 
terrorism  of  the  Roman  mob  ?  Had  the  cardinals  any 
justification  for  their  subsequent  action  in  setting  up  a  rival 
claimant  ;  or,  if  we  may  not  excuse  the  cardinals  what  are 
we  to  say  of  the  Catholic  states  which  ralhed  to  their  sup- 
port ?  These  are  questions  which  demand  careful  considera- 
tion.   M.  Valois'  book  does  much  to  supply  the  answer. 

Gregory  XI.  had  broken  the  spell  of  the  French  enchant- 
ment, and  restored  the  Papacy  to  the  city  by  the  Tiber.  But 
Rome  was  no  longer  what  it  once  had  been  ;  signs  of  decay 
and  misery  were  apparent  at  every  turn.  The  spirit  of  unrest 
and  rebellion  was  abroad,  and  honest  Christians  trembled 
at  the  thought  of  the  prospects  in  store  for  the  Holy  See 
when  Gregory  XI.  should  have  passed  away.  The  last  days 
of  the  aged  Pontiff  were  saddened  by  a  foreshadowing  of 
the  calamities  in  store  for  the  Church,  which  he  was  power- 
less to  avert.  On  the  19th  March,  1378,  he  issued  the  Bull 
regulating  the  election  of  a  successor,  and  eight  days  later 
he  had  gone  before  his  Judge. 

The  Conclave  was  to  open  on  the  6th  April,  after  the 
funeral,  obsequies  had  been  dulv  observed.    The  interven- 


THE  GREAT  WESTERN  SCHISM 


lOI 


ing  days  were  marked  by  riotous  scenes.  Once  a  day  the 
cardinals  assembled  for  the  requiem  service  in  the  church 
of  St.  Francoise  Romaine  (where  the  tomb  of  Gregory  XI. 
is  still  to  be  seen),  only  to  be  surrounded  by  importunate 
crowds  of  the  municipal  officers,  as  well  as  the  populace, 
clamouring  wildly  that  the  Papacy  should  never  again  be 
transferred  to  Avignon.  As  time  passed  the  excitement 
grew  more  intense,  especially  since  the  replies  of  some  of 
the  cardinals  were  not  considered  reassuring  ;  the  streets 
resounded  with  the  threats  of  the  multitude,  '  We  want  a 
Roman  or  at  least  an  Italian,  or  else  death  to  the  Frenchmen 
and  the  Foreigners  ; '  officers  elected  by  the  people  seized 
the  Borgo  and  strengthened  the  gates  and  bridges,  precau- 
tions were  taken  lest  the  bishops  and  cardinals  might  escape 
from  the  city  ;  and  it  was  with  difficulty  that  guarantees 
for  the  security  and  hberty  of  the  Conclave  could  be  secured 
from  the  Roman  authorities. 

The  panic  in  Rome  became  universal.  The  houses 
belonging  to  the  Curial  officials  were  in  great  part  aban- 
doned, or  at  least,  the  valuable  property  was  transferred  to 
Ara  Coeli  or  some  other  place  of  security.  Some  of  the 
foreign  bishops  were  able  to  elude  the  vigilance  of  the 
sentinels  at  the  gates,  while  others  sought  a  hiding-place 
in  the  houses  of  their  friends.  Peter  de  Luna,  Cardinal  of 
Arragon,  arranged  his  will ;  Bertrand  Lagier,  Cardinal  of 
Glandeve,  demanded  that  his  confessor  should  accompany 
him  to  the  Conclave  ;  Robert  of  Geneva  (afterwards  Clement 
VII.)  took  care  to  buckle  under  his  rochet  the  coat  of  mail 
which  as  Legate  he  had  used  in  his  wars  against  the  rebel- 
lious subjects  of  the  Holy  See  ;  D'Argrefeuille  took  a  last 
farewell  of  his  retainers  ;  while  the  Cardinal  of  Poitiers 
weepingly  recommended  himself  to  the  prayers  of  his  friends. 
Yet  it  would  be  untrue  to  say  that  the  cardinals  generally 
believed  their  lives  to  be  in  danger.  Some,  and  these  French- 
men, professed  themselves  perfectly  satisfied  with  the  guar- 
antees of  liberty  and  security.  Besides,  there  were  many 
powerful  families  in  Rome — Colonna,  Orsini,  Fondi,  de 
Vico,  Caetani — who  would  have  gladly  defended  the  cardinals, 
at  least  m  the  last  extremity,  but  their  assistance  was  never 


I02  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


solicited  ;  the  Breton  mercenaries — the  terror  of  the  Roman 
mob — were  lying  just  outside  the  walls,  five  hundred  strong, 
and  their  officers  were  daily  seen  in  the  streets  ready  to  sell 
their  swords  to  the  cardinals,  yet  when  the  proposition  was 
made  the  Sacred  College  pronounced  against  it ;  the  Castle 
of  St.  Angelo,  manned  by  French  soldiers,  offered  a  secure 
retreat  against  the  violence  of  the  people,  a  retreat  of  which 
the  cardinals  refused  to  avail  themselves.  These  points  are 
of  importance  in  discussing  the  liberty  of  the  electors. 

Such  was  the  state  of  feeling  in  the  city  when  the  day 
arrived  for  the  opening  of  the  Conclave.  Even  the  elements 
themselves  seemed  to  be  in  league  with  man  to  add  to  the 
terror  and  confusion.  That  morning  a  violent  thunder- 
storm broke  over  the  city  and  the  Vatican  palace  was  struck 
by  lightning — the  current  crashing  right  through  the  cell 
that  had  been  prepared  for  Peter  de  Luna.  This  was 
popularly  interpreted  as  a  demonstration  from  heaven  in 
favour  of  his  candidature,  but  years  of  bitter  dissension 
were  to  pass  ere  the  Cardinal  of  Arragon  could  seize  the 
tiara.  The  Conclave  hall  was  so  badly  damaged  that  it 
was  necessary  to  adjourn  the  opening  for  twenty-four  hours. 

The  next  day  (7th  April)  the  cardinals  began  to  arrive 
at  the  Vatican  from  about  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon. 
An  immense  multitude  of  people  anxiously  awaited  their 
arrival.  The  great  square  of  St.  Peter's,  the  steps  of  the 
Basilica,  the  windows  and  roofs  of  the  neighbouring  houses 
were  packed  not  with  careless  onlookers,  but  with  men  in- 
tensely interested  in  the  issues  at  stake.  Was  it  to  be 
Rome,  or  was  it  to  be  Avignon  ?  The  cardinals'  carriages 
halted  at  the  outskirt  of  the  crowd,  and  as  they  elbowed  their 
way  to  the  Vatican  they  were  greeted  with  groans  or 
applause  according  as  they  were  supposed  to  favour  Avig- 
non or  Rome  ;  whilst  all  the  while,  amidst  the  tumult  and 
confusion,  the  cry  rose  clear  and  distinct  from  the  excited 
throng,  '  Romano  lo  volemo  o  almanco  Italiano.' 

A  barrier  had  been  erected  in  front  of  the  Vatican  to 
prevent  strangers  entering  the  hall  of  Conclave,  but  the 
officers  in  charge  were  unable  or  unwilling  to  do  their  work, 
with  the  result  that  crowds  burst  in  after  the  cardinals — 


THE  GREAT  WESTERN  SCHISM 


103 


officers,  Romans,  armed  men.  For  two  hours  this  scene 
of  wild  confusion  lasted,  till  finally  the  strangers  were 
excluded,  and  at  about  nine  or  ten  o'clock  at  night  the  doors 
were  closed  and  everything  ready  to  begin  the  election. 

Meanwhile  what  were  the  thoughts  that  filled  the  minds 
of  the  electors  on  this  solemn  occasion  ?  This  is  a  question 
of  capital  importance.  If,  for  instance,  we  could  discover 
the  relations  between  the  different  parties  into  which  the 
cardinals  were  divided,  and  furthermore,  that  already  in 
their  secret  meetings  held  during  the  interregnum,  the 
majority  had  already  fixed  upon  a  probable  candidate,  it 
would  help  us  much  in  determining  the  validity  of  election. 

There  were  sixteen  cardinals  then  in  Rome,  and  these, 
according  to  the  testimony  of  both  parties — Clementine  as 
well  as  Urbanist — were  spilt  up  into  three  sections,  the 
Limousins,  the  remaining  French,  and  the  Italians ;  Peter 
de  Luna,  the  Spaniard,  having  allied  himself  with  the  French. 
The  Limousins,  who  had  already  thrice  succeeded  in  recent 
years  in  placing  their  nominee  in  the  Chair  of  St.  Peter, 
numbered  probably  seven  votes,  the  French  counted  five, 
while  the  Italians  with  four  formed  the  smallest  party  in 
the  Conclave. 

It  was  thus  evident  that  no  section  could  hope  to  carry 
its  candidate  single-handed.  Then  the  French,  in  their 
hatred  of  their  Limousin  countrymen,  turned  to  the  Italians 
for  support.  Three  of  their  number,  amongst  whom  were 
Robert  of  Geneva  and  Peter  de  Luna,  approached  the  aged 
Cardinal  of  St.  Peter's,  but  the  latter,  suspecting  a  ruse, 
was  unwilling  to  entertain  their  overtures.  Finally,  des- 
pairing of  gaining  the  Italians,  three  or  four  of  the  French 
offered  to  join  the  Italians  for  the  election  of  an  Italian 
Pontiff. 

What  is  more  interesting  still,  we  can  even  determine 
the  candidate  of  their  choice.  In  case  no  member  of  the 
Sacred  College  could  succed  in  securing  the  required  votes 
— an  eventuality  which  was  considered  very  probable — 
their  votes  were  to  be  united  in  favour  of  Bartholomew 
Prignano,  Archbishop  of  Bari  in  Apulia,  afterwards  Urban 
VI.    In  proof  of  this  we  may  cite  the  fact  that  one  day  the 


104  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


Cardinal  of  Milan  is  shown  to  have  said,  '  My  Lord  of  Bari, 
if  it  were  depending  on  me  alone,  your  shoulders  should 
soon  be  charged  with  a  heavy  burden.'  Robert  of  Geneva 
declared  that  they  would  have  an  Italian  Pope  this  time 
in  spite  of  those  traitors  of  Limousins,  and  again,  '  By  the 
Holy  Gospels,'  he  said,  '  the  Archbishop  of  Bari  shall  be 
our  Pope  or  another  whom  I  won't  mention  ' — this  other, 
needless  to  say,  being  himself.  Finally,  the  same  cardinal 
on  the  evening  of  the  7th  April  showed  a  slip  of  paper  in 
his  hand  on  which  were  written  the  names  of  his  favourite 
candidates,  and  Bartholomew  Prignano  was  inscribed 
thereon.  Peter  de  Luna  received  Holy  Communion  on  the 
morning  of  the  Conclave  from  the  hands  of  the  Bishop  of 
Jaen,  and,  according  to  the  statements  of  the  latter  prelate, 
declared  his  intention  of  voting  for  the  Archbishop  of  Bari, 
These  are  significant  facts  in  themselves. 

But  more  significant  still,  even  the  Limousin  cardinals 
seem  to  have  been  won  over  to  support  his  candidature. 
This  is  strongly  maintained  by  the  supporters  of  Urban,  and 
as  strongly  denied  by  Clement's  followers.  In  these  cir- 
cumstances, we  should  pay  little  attention  to  the  rumour, 
had  we  not  the  express  testimony  of  Peter  de  Luna,  himself 
a  bitter  opponent  of  Urban  and  later  on  one  of  the  rival 
Popes.  When  under  interrogation  on  this  point  he  stated 
that  he  did  not  know — that  he  did  not  believe  that  all  the 
Limousin  cardinals,  nor  even  the  greater  part  of  them,  had 
resolved  to  elect  the  Archbishop  of  Bari  ;  that  two  or  three 
of  them  at  most  had  seen  the  wisdom  of  such  a  selection. 
Coming  from  such  a  man  these  words  leave  little  doubt  on 
our  mind  as  to  the  attitude  of  at  least  a  section  of  the 
Limousins  towards  Prignano' s  candidature. 

We  have  it,  then,  for  certain,  that  before  entering  the 
Conclave  nine  or  ten  cardinals  had  come  to  regard  the 
Archbishop  of  Bari  as  a  suitable  man,  and  considering  how 
unlikely  it  was  that  any  cardinal  could  secure  the  requisite 
votes  his  chances  seemed  to  stand  the  highest  before  the 
opening  of  the  Conclave.  No  wonder,  then,  that  the  rumour 
of  his  pending  election  should  have  gone  abroad  in  Rome 
and  even  in  Naples. 


THE  GREAT  WESTERN  SCHISM 


105 


Why  the  name  of  the  Archbishop  of  Bari  should  have 
come  so  prominently  before  the  cardinals  is  quite  a  different 
question.  His  enemies  say  it  was  due  to  intrigue  and  the 
free  expenditure  of  money.  Even  if  this  were  so  it  would 
be  irrelevant,  for  we  are  dealing  not  with  the  character  of 
the  man,  but  with  the  validity  of  his  election.  Still,  we  may 
point  out  that  it  is  not  necessary  to  recur  to  bribery  or  in- 
trigues for  an  explanation  of  his  prominence.  He  had  been 
for  years  attached  to  the  court  of  Avignon,  and  there, 
representing  Cardinal  Pampeluna,  had  been  brought  into 
close  correspondence  with  the  members  of  the  Sacred  College, 
who  were  not  forgetful  afterwards  of  his  training  in  the 
machinery  of  Church  government.  Personally,  as  even  his 
bitterest  enemies  admit,  before  his  election  he  was  commonly 
regarded  as  a  model  churchman,  pious,  mortified,  humble, 
prudent,  eloquent,  independent,  and  withal  a  man  of  the 
world,  shrewd,  clever,  business-like  in  his  methods.  Besides, 
as  a  subject  of  the  Queen  of  Naples  he  was  more  likely  to 
be  agreeable  to  the  French  cardinals  than  any  other  Italian. 
Such,  theU;  were  the  opinions  of  the  electors  entering  the 
Conclave  on  the  7th  April. 

When,  at  last,  strangers  had  been  excluded  from  the 
apartments  prepared  for  the  election,  the  cardinals  retired 
to  their  chambers,  but  for  many  of  them  sleep  must  have 
been  an  impossibility.  Not  to  speak  of  anxiety  for  the 
future  of  the  Church  there  were  many  other  disturbing 
influences  at  work.  Down  below — for  the  Conclave  hall 
was  on  the  second  floor — the  military  guards,  unmindful  of 
the  comforts  of  those  overhead,  piled  up  a  blazing  fire  round 
which  they  lay  in  soldierly  fashion,  making  merry  on  the 
wines  stolen  from  the  cellars  of  the  Vatican;  while  outside 
in  the  neighbouring  taverns,  in  the  square  of  St.  Peter's, 
even  up  to  the  very  doors  of  the  palace,  the  Roman  mob 
kept  nightly  vigil — drinking,  singing,  dancing,  stopping  at 
intervals  only  to  raise  the  well-known  cry  of :  '  Romano, 
Romano,  Romano  lo  volemo  o  almanco  Italiano.' 

The  next  morning  (8th  April)  a  little  before  sunrise  the 
cardinals  were  summoned  to  the  Conclave  chapel.  Fatigue 
had  evidently  overcome  the  watchers,  for  the  noise  outside 


I06  THE   IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


had  died  away.  The  cardinals  recited  their  small  Hours 
in  common,  and  then  assisted  at  the  Mass  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  of  the  Feria.  But  while  the  priest  was  still  at  the  altar 
the  tumult  began  once  more.  Suddenly  the  tocsin  sounded 
in  the  direction  of  the  Capitol,  and  the  tolling  of  the  bells  of 
St.  Peter's  could  be  heard  in  reply,  whilst  at  the  same  time 
there  was  wafted  to  the  ears  of  the  cardinals  the  threatening 
shouts  of  an  excited  populace.  '  What  is  that  ?  We  are 
lost,'  cried  one  of  the  prelates.  One  of  the  attendants  who 
had  mounted  the  roof  to  observe,  returned  to  say  that  the 
great  square  was  packed  with  people,  some  of  them  armed 
men ;  that  the  tower  of  St.  Peter's  had  been  seized  despite 
the  protests  of  the  canons,  and  that  a  red  flag  was  being 
waved  from  the  summit  of  the  Campanile  to  people  posted 
on  the  Capitol.  Everything  seemed  to  point  to  a  popular 
emeute. 

Throughout  this  terrible  scene  the  electors  remained 
apparently  unmoved.  They  took  their  seats  while  the 
Cardinal-Bishop  of  Florence  mounted  the  pulpit  to  preach 
the  Conclave  discourse.  As  the  shouts  outside  became 
momentarily  more  threatening,  the  preacher,  nervous  and 
excited,  began  to  hesitate,  and  at  last  was  forced  to  admit 
that  he  had  forgotten  the  thread  of  his  discourse.  Just 
then  word  was  brought  that  the  Bishop  of  Marseilles — one 
of  those  charged  with  the  security  of  the  electors — was 
outside,  and  demanded  a  parley  with  the  priors  of  the 
Conclave.  Aigrefeuille  and  Orsini  appeared  at  the  wicket 
while  the  cries  of  the  populace  redoubled.  '  My  Lords, 
my  Lords,'  whispered  the  bishop,  '  make  haste  with  the 
election.  You  are  likely  to  be  cut  to  pieces  unless  you  elect 
a  Roman  or  an  Italian.  We  who  are  outside  can  best  judge 
your  peril.'  They  returned  to  the  chapel  and  delivered  the 
message  with  which  they  had  been  charged. 

What  was  to  be  done  ?  Were  they  going  to  betray  their 
trust  by  yielding  to  the  threats  of  an  excited  populace,  or 
were  they  to  face  death  and  consequent  anarchy  in  the 
Church  for  the  sake  of  the  triumph  of  some  party  ?  This 
was  the  question  debated  by  the  cardinals.  At  the  end  of 
half  an  hour  it  was  agreed  that  they  should  satisfy  the 


THE  GREAT  WESTERN  SCHISM 


107 


people — Orsini  alone  objecting  to  such  a  pledge  as  destroy- 
ing the  liberty  of  the  electors.  The  wicket  was  again  opened 
and  the  same  two  cardinals  announced  to  the  people  that 
they  should  soon  have  a  Roman  or  an  Italian  Pope. 

Various  plans  were  proposed  and  rejected.  Orsini  was 
of  opinion  that  they  might  simulate  an  election  by  crowning 
a  friar  to  play  the  role  of  Pontiff  before  the  people,  but  this 
received  no  support  in  the  Sacred  College.  Others  sug- 
gested that  even  the  election  was  invalid  now ;  it  could  be 
regularly  celebrated  when  the  danger  was  past,  and  the 
cardinals  had  recovered  their  freedom.  But  just  then  Peter 
de  Luna  engaged  the  Cardinal  of  Limoges  in  conversation 
on  the  candidature  of  the  Archbishop  of  Bari.  Limoges  in 
turn  took  counsel  with  Aigrefeuille.  Poitiers  and  MUan 
joined  the  group,  a  hurried  count  was  made,  and  it  was  found 
that  Prignano  was  likely  to  secure  a  majority  of  votes. 

'  Pray  be  seated,  my  Lords,'  said  Aigrefeuille,  '  we  are 
going  to  have  a  Pope  soon  unless  I  am  mistaken.'  When 
all  had  taken  their  seats  the  Bishop  of  Limoges  proposed  the 
name  of  the  Archbishop  of  Bari.  After  him  Aigrefeuille 
stood  up,  '  I  name  and  I  choose,'  said  he.  '  the  Archbishop 
of  Bari  as  Pope  and  Pontiff  of  Rome.'  Their  example  was 
followed  by  the  other  cardinals  with  few  exceptions.  Orsini 
refused  to  vote  on  the  ground  that  he  was  not  free  in  his 
choice.  The  Cardinals  of  Bretagne  and  St.  Angelo  were 
at  first  unwilling  but  afterwards  allowed  themselves  to  be 
won  over  to  the  side  of  Prignano.  Thus,  out  of  sixteen  votes 
the  Archbishop  of  Bari  had  secured  fifteen  ;  in  other  words, 
his  election  was  practically  unanimous.  Nor  is  there  any- 
thing to  prove  that  those  who  supported  him  did  not  really 
wish  that  he  should  become  Pope.  In  fact  the  contrary  is 
evident  from  the  formula  i;sed  by  many  of  them  in  declaring 
their  adhesion. 

It  was  close  on  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning  when  the 
election  had  been  completed.  Again,  the  wild  cries  of  the 
multitude  outside  resounded  through  the  Conclave  hall. 
The  Bishop  of  Marseilles,  alarmed  for  the  safety  of  the 
Sacred  College,  demanded  another  parley  at  the  wicket. 
As  the  cardinals  appeared  the  populace  became  more  im- 


I08  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


perative  in  their  demands  ;  they  must  have  a  Roman  Pontiff 
— the  alternative  of  an  Itahan  being  almost  entirely  dropped. 
Orsini  promised  to  satisfy  their  demands,  whilst  at  the  same 
time  he  handed  out  a  slip  of  paper  on  which  were  written 
the  names  of  six  prelates  who  were  ordered  to  come  at  once 
to  the  Vatican.  Amongst  the  number  we  find  the  name  of 
the  Archbishop  of  Bari.  The  cardinals  delayed  apparently 
in  proclaiming  his  election  till  his  consent  should  have  been 
obtained — a  fact  which  seems  to  indicate  that  they  wished 
to  observe  exactly  all  the  canonical  formalities.  The 
demands  for  a  Roman  Pontiff  were  repeated  with  redoubled 
violence,  '  Romano,  Romano  lo  volemo  se  non  che  tutti  li 
occideremo.'  It  was  only  then  that  the  cardinals  began  to 
fear  that  their  choice  of  an  Italian  prelate  would  not  save 
them  from  the  violence  of  the  excited  multitude. 

Meanwhile  the  prelates  summoned  by  the  cardinals 
hurried  to  the  Vatican.  On  their  arrival  the  tumult  outside 
seemed  to  have  gradually  died  away.  It  was  then  the  hour 
for  the  mid-day  meal,  and,  excited  as  the  Romans  were, 
dinner  had  more  attractions  than  the  election  of  a  Pope. 
Inside,  too,  they  seated  themselves  at  table  as  if  nothing 
alarming  had  occurred.  The  prelates  dined  on  the  first  floor 
with  the  Bishop  of  Marseilles  and  were  apparently  in  the 
best  of  spirits,  laughingly  discussing  all  the  time  why  they  had 
been  summoned  in  such  haste.  Some  of  them,  at  least,  from 
the  remarks  made,  seemed  to  have  suspected  the  real  cause. 

Inside,  too,  the  cardinals  dined.  They  seated  them- 
selves at  table  in  groups  of  threes  and  fours,  but,  on  account 
of  the  presence  of  their  attendants  they  could  not  freely 
discuss  the  events  of  the  morning.  Only  one,  the  Cardinal 
of  Glandeve,  protested  to  his  neighbour  that  he  had  acted 
through  fear  of  death.  '  Have  you  not  seen  yourself,'  he 
demanded,  '.the  danger  in  which  we  stood.'  At  last  the 
greater  part  of  the  cardinals  rose  up  from  the  table  and 
moved  towards  the  chapel.  On  the  way  a  heated  discus- 
sion took  place  between  the  Cardinal  of  Florence  and 
Aigrefeuille  as  to  whether  such  violence  had  ever  been  used 
at  Papal  elections  in  Avignon.  They  were  clearly  in  no 
hurry  to  finish  the  exciting  business  which  they  had  in  hands- 


THE  GREAT  WESTERN  SCHISM 


log 


Suddenly  one  of  their  body,  probably  the  aged  Tibal- 
deschi,  proposed  that  they  should  take  advantage  of  the 
calm  outside  to  re-elect  Prignano.  The  Cardinal  of  St. 
Angelo  bluntly  refused  on  the  ground  that  the  danger  had 
not  wholly  disappeared.  Another  proposed  the  question  : 
'  Are  we  all  of  the  same  opinion  ?  '  '  Yes,  yes,'  the}'  replied, 
some  adding  :  '  I  say  the  same  as  I  said  this  morning.'  It 
is  not,  however,  true,  as  the  Urbanists  contend,  that  all  the 
electors  were  then  present.  Three  cardinals  had  not  yet  left 
the  table.  But  out  of  the  thirteen  present,  eleven  voted 
again  for  Bartholomew  Prignano,  and  thus,  for  the  second 
time,  he  secured  the  requisite  number  of  votes. 

Just  then  the  attitude  of  the  populace  outside  became 
once  more  decidedly  threatening.  It  was  thought  advisable 
that  Cardinal  Orsini  should  appear  at  one  of  the  windows 
and  try  to  calm  the  excitement.  '  Silence,'  he  exclaimed, 
addressing  himself  to  the  crowd,  '  you  have  a  Pope.'  Who 
is  he  ?'  they  cried  out  together.  '  Go  to  St.  Peter's,'  was  the 
reply.  Some  moved  towards  the  Basilica,  while  others, 
however,  eagerly  demanded  :  '  Is  he  a  Roman  ?  '  Orsini's 
gesture — for  he  answered  nothing — was  considered  un- 
favourable, and  then  the  passion  of  the  multitude  broke 
loose.  A  wild  rush  was  made  towards  the  Vatican, 
sticks  and  stones  were  hurled  against  the  windows,  the 
barriers  were  completely  swept  away,  and  in  another 
moment  the  rabble  would  have  gained  the  Conclave  hall. 

Some  of  the  cardinals  fled  while  there  was  yet  time, 
others  took  refuge  in  the  chapel.  It  was  then  that  the  idea 
of  calming  the  populace  by  presenting  the  aged  Tibaldeschi 
of  St. Peter's  as  the  Pope-Elect  occurred  to  some  of  the  clerics. 
The  old  man  refused  to  lend  himself  to  such  deception. 
Then  came  the  most  sickening  scene  of  all.  In  spite  of  his 
violent  opposition  they  placed  him  in  the  Papal  chair, 
where  they  held  him  by  brute  force  ;  others  hastily  clothed 
him  with  the  Papal  insignia,  taking  care  at  the  same  time  to 
smother  his  angry  remonstrances — the  bells  sounded  and  the 
Te  Deum  was  chanted.  For  two  hours  this  disgraceful 
mockery  continued,  till  at  last  they  bore  the  aged  cardinal 
to  his  rooms  more  dead  than  alive. 


no 


THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


But  the  object  of  the  manoeuvre  had  been  gained.  The 
crowds  had  time  to  quiet  down,  and  gradually  the  name  of 
the  Archbishop  of  Bari  began  to  pass  from  rank  to  rank. 
'  We  won't  have  him,'  '  We  are  betrayed,'  they  shouted, 
and  ran  hither  and  thither  seeking  the  elect  to  force  him  to 
abdicate.  He  had  already  taken  refuge  in  the  chambers 
of  Tibaldeschi  resolved  to  die,  as  he  declares  himself,  rather 
than  yield  to  the  wishes  of  the  populace.  His  friends 
organised  a  defence  party  to  surround  the  Vatican  during 
the  night  lest  the  mob  should  return. 

Meanwhile  what  had  become  of  the  cardinals  ?  In  the 
tumult  caused  by  the  proclamation  of  Tibaldeschi,  they  had 
manged  to  escape  from  the  Vatican.  Six  of  them  found  a 
refuge  hard  by  in  the  Castle  of  St.  Angelo  under  the  protec- 
tion of  the  soldiers  of  France  ;  four  gained  the  open  country 
and  reached  in  safety  the  castles  of  the  barons,  while  the 
others  returned  to  their  lodgings  in  the  city.  Thus,  when 
the  night  of  the  8th  of  April  closed  round  the  Vatican 
there  remained  within  its  walls  only  the  aged  cardinal  of 
St.  Peter's  and  the  Pope-Elect. 

The  next  day  (9th  April)  was  an  anxious  one  for  the 
Archbishop.  Doubtlessly  he  had  been  elected,  but  the  for- 
malities prescribed  on  such  occasions  were  not  complied 
with.  His  consent  had  not  been  obtained  or  sought, 
neither  had  he  been  proclaimed  nor  enthroned.  Surely  now 
was  the  time  for  the  cardinals  to  hold  aloof,  and  not  proceed 
further  in  a  business  which  they  disapproved.  If  their 
votes  had  been  forced  yesterday  why  should  they  confirm 
them  to-day  ?  Yet,  what  are  the  facts  ?  The  cardinals 
who  had  passed  the  night  in  Rome  hurried  to  the  Vatican 
betimes  the  next  morning.  Those  in  the  Castle  of  St. 
Angelo  were  summoned  to  attend  the  enthronisation,  and 
though  at  first  they  were  unwilling  to  venture  out,  they 
unanimously  signed  a  document  authorizing  the  other 
cardinals  to  proceed  with  the  ceremony.  Finally,  they 
changed  their  minds  and  appeared  personally  at  the  Vatican. 

When  all  were  assembled  they  retired  to  the  chapel  for 
consultation.  Surely  if  there  were  any  doubts  about  the 
election  of  yesterday  this  was  the  time  to  raise  them.  Yet, 


THE  GREAT  WESTERN  SCHISM 


III 


not  a  single  dissentient  voice  was  heard.  After  a  few 
moments  the  Archbishop  of  Bari  was  called  in,  and  informed 
that  he  had  been  elected  Pope.  The  Archbishop  while  pro- 
testing his  unworthiness,  announced  his  acceptance,  and 
the  usual  ceremonies  were  gone  through.  The  newly-elected 
Pontiff,  clothed  in  the  full  Papal  vestments,  was  led  to  the 
altar  where  the  cardinals  made  their  obedience,  the  bells 
were  rung,  the  Te  Deum  solemnly  chanted,  while  pro- 
clamation was  made  to  the  people  according  to  the  time- 
honoured  formula  :  '  I  announce  to  you  tidings  of  great 
joy,  we  have  a  Pope,  and  he  has  taken  the  name  of  Urban 
VI.' 

For  weeks  Rome  was  dazzled  with  the  gorgeous  celebra- 
tions. None  of  the  customary  ceremonies  were  omitted  on 
this  occasion,  and,  what  is  stranger  still,  the  cardinals  absent 
from  Rome  returned  to  take  their  places.  On  Easter  Sunday 
after  a  procession  through  the  streets  from  St.  John  Lateran 
the  Pope  was  solemnly  crowned  by  Cardinal  Orsini,  in 
presence  of  the  whole  Sacred  College  and  in  front  of  the 
High  x^ltar  of  St.  Peter's.  The  cardinals  sought  and  ob- 
tained favours  both  spiritual  and  temporal  as  if  Urban  had 
been  validly  elected  ;  they  wrote  a  collective  letter  announc- 
ing his  election  to  the  Catholic  rulers  of  Europe,  and  to  their 
own  colleagues  at  Avignon,  and,  what  is  more  important 
stiU,  the  individual  electors  wrote  in  the  same  sense  to  the 
Emperor,  the  Queen  of  Naples,  the  Kings  of  Castile  and 
Arragon,  and  many  others. 

No  doubt  the  cardinals  a  little  later  urged  the  plea  of 
fear  as  an  excuse  for  their  conduct  during  these  weeks,  but 
the  defence  is  insufficient.  It  is  difficult  to  see  why  fear 
should  have  obliged  them  to  petition  Urban,  if  they  believed 
him  to  be  an  intruder,  for  benefices  and  indulgences,  nor 
will  it  explain  the  letters  written  by  the  Sacred  College  to 
persons  outside  of  Rome,  letters  most  of  which  never  passed 
through  Urban's  hands. 

The  rest  of  the  story  is  soon  told.  Hardly  had  he  been 
seated  on  the  throne  when  Urban's  disposition  seemed  to 
have  entirely  changed.  "His  zeal  for  the  reformation  of 
abuses  was,  unfortunately,  not  equalled  by  his  prudence. 


1 12 


THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


The  cardinals  began  to  regard  him  as  a  tyrant,  and  it  is 
noteworthy  that  their  scruples  about  the  validity  of  his 
election  seemed  to  grow  in  proportion  to  their  discontent. 
Stranger  rumours  were  put  in  circulation  ;  the  cardinals' 
letters  to  the  King  of  France  and  the  Emperor  betrayed  the 
doubts  that  had  arisen.  With  the  approach  of  the  hot  season 
they  retired  to  Avignon  and  later  still  to  Fondi.  On  the  gth 
of  August  they  issued  their  manifesto  against  Urban  agreed 
to  by  all  except  Tibaldeschi,  and  on  the  20th  September, 
relying  on  the  protection  of  France,  they  elected  Robert  of 
Geneva,  who  took  the  name  of  Clement  VII.  Thus  the 
schism  was  consummated,  and  the  way  prepared  for  the 
division  of  Christendom. 

From  this  bare  recital  of  the  facts  it  will  be  evident 
that  the  discussion  of  Urban' s  election  is  beset  with  serious 
difficulties.  It  is  a  question  about  which  the  historian  can 
badly  afford  to  be  dogmatic.  Whilst  we  are  convinced  that 
the  weight  of  evidence  favours  its  validity,  we  are  forced  to 
admit  that  the  defenders  of  the  opposite  opinion  have  good 
grounds  on  which  to  base  their  view.  That  the  electors 
were  terrorized  we  have  no  doubt  ;  that  Prignano's  election 
was  the  result  of  terrorism  is  certainly  not  proven. 

But  whatever  we  may  think  about  the  election  there  is 
one  point  about  which  all — Clementines  as  well  as  Urbanists 
— will  probably  agree,  and  that  is  the  responsibility  of  the 
Sacred  College.  Whether  we  regard  the  cardinals  as  cow- 
ardly traitors,  who  yielding  to  the  threats  of  the  Roman 
mob,  betrayed  their  trust  by  electing  a  man  unworthy  of 
the  tiara,  or  as  wilful  prevaricators  when  they  put  forward 
that  plea  of  eternal  fear  which  seemed  to  have  dictated  their 
every  thought,  we  must  hold  them  to  have  been  men  un- 
worthy of  their  sacred  office,  who,  for  the  accomplishment 
of  their  own  personal  aims,  had  no  hesitation  in  trying  to 
break  up  the  unity  of  the  Christian  world. 

But  when  we  come  to  discuss  the  responsibility  of  the 
other  followers  of  Clement  VII. — especially  that  of  Charles 
V.  of  France — our  judgment  must  be  considerably  modified. 
When  we  remember  that  Urban  allowed  a  month  to  elapse 
before  despatching  an  embassy  to  announce  his  election  at 


THE  GREAT  WESTERN  SCHISM  II3 


the  court  of  Charles  V.,  that  in  the  meantime  the  King  had 
confidential  information  of  the  violent  scenes  enacted  in 
Rome,  that  when  at  last  Urban's  ambassadors  arrived  one 
of  them  in  league  with  the  cardinals  set  himself  to  prove 
that  the  election  was  the  result  of  Roman  terrorism,  and 
that  finally,  the  electors,  who  were  best  qualified  to  judge 
their  own  state  of  mind,  almost  unanimously  declared 
against  the  validity — remembering  all  this  we  can  easily 
understand  why  Charles  V.  should  have  adopted  a  policy 
which  the  interests  of  France  seemed  also  to  dictate. 

We  cannot,  therefore,  be  surprised  at  the  following 
touching  declaration  made  by  Charles  V.  in  the  presence 
of  his  advisers,  a  few  hours  before  he  passed  into  eternity  : — 

All  you  who  are  here  present,  in  whom  I  have  full  confidence, 
know  well  what  the  cardinals,  to  whom  belongs  the  right  of  elect- 
ing the  Sovereign  Pontiff,  have  done,  how  all  together  in  their 
private  as  well  as  their  public  letters  have  assured  me  that 
the  election  of  Urban  was  brought  about  by  violence,  while  that 
of  Clement  was  celebrated  in  full  security.  Wishing  to  know 
what  I  should  do  I  consulted  dukes,  counts,  barons,  chevaliers, 
prelates — all  of  whom,  with  one  exception,  declared  to  me  that 
m  their  souls  and  consciences  they  belived  that  unless  the  letters 
of  the  cardinals  were  lying,  I  should  immediately  take  sides  to 
avert  a  schism,  and  that  the  claims  of  Clement  were  stronger  far 
than  those  of  the  Archbishop  of  Bari.  I  followed  their  counsels. 
I  wished,  according  to  the  example  of  my  fathers,  who  were  always 
good  Catholics  and  zealous  defenders  of  the  Church,  to  walk  in 
the  ways  of  faith.  I  chose  in  this,  as  in  everything  else,  what  I 
considered  the  safest  route.  I  believed  then,  and  I  believe  still, 
that  Clement  is  the  true  pastor  of  the  Universal  Church.  If, 
however,  it  should  go  abroad  that  the  cardinals  acted  under  the 
inspiration  of  the  devil,  know  well  that  no  consideration  of  friend- 
ship, no  misplaced  sentiment  dictated  my  choice,  but  only  the 
testimony  of  the  electors  together  with  the  advice  of  my  bishops, 
my  clerics,  and  my  counsellors.  If  it  should  be  said  in  fine  that 
I  was  deceived — and  I  have  no  reason  to  believe  that  I  was — 
remember  that  my  intention  is  to  adopt  and  to  follow  the  opinion 
of  our  Holy  Mother,  the  Church.  I  desire  to  obey  in  this  matter 
the  resolutions  of  a  General  Council  or  of  any  other  Council  com- 
petent to  pronounce  an  opinion,  and  may  God  not  reproach  ire 
with  what,  in  my  ignorance,  I  may  have  done  against  the  future 
decision  of  the  Church. 

James  M'Caffrey,  s.t.l. 


VOL.  XV. 


M 


I  114  ] 


A  PARODY  OF  THE  CATHOLIC  RELIGION 

PERHAPS  the  most  universally  appreciated  form  of 
humour  is  that  of  parody  and  burlesque.  There  are, 
however,  limits  to  the  number  of  subjects  that  may 
be  parodied  ;  a  serious-minded  man  is  not  usually  amused, 
but  shocked,  at  a  parody  of  some  devout  hymn,  or  a 
burlesque  of  a  holy  rite,  however  much  he  may  differ  from 
the  sentiments  expressed  in  the  hymn,  howevei  superstitious 
he  may  believe  the  rite  to  be.  It  is  only  the  sacred  nature 
of  the  subject  and  the  blasphemous  significance  of  its  con- 
clusions that  prevent  the  Positive  Religion  of  Humanity 
from  being  a  most  successful  piece  of  unconscious  humour, 
Comte  has  only  failed  in  making  blasphemy  really  ridiculous, 
because  blasphemy,  in  any  form,  is  too  serious  a  subject  for 
laughter.  Yet,  at  times,  we  must  admit,  our  appreciation 
of  the  incongruity  of  the  whole  situation  gets  the  better  of 
our  sense  of  reverence  when  we  read  of  man's  elaborate 
system  for  the  due  worship  of  himself.  If,  in  giving  an 
account  of  the  Mont  Pelee  eruption,  some  half-educated 
scribbler  were  to  quote  Parturiunt  monies,  few  of  us  could 
restrain  a  smile.  That  terrible  catastrophe  was  no  more 
subject  for  laughter  than  is  blasphemy  ;  yet  we  should  not 
blame  ourselves  for  smiling  at  a  journalist's  use  of  the 
quotation  in  such  a  context.  Similarly,  we  may  be  excused 
if  we  do  not  receive  with  becoming  seriousness  Comte's 
distortion  of  sacred  things  in  the  parody  of  Christianity 
which  he  gives  to  the  world  with  such  assurance  and 
gravity. 

The  want  of  proportion  in  the  system,  the  irrelevancy  of 
its  faith  to  its  form  of  worship,  its  calm  attitude  of  conscious 
superiority,  its  pretentious  claims,  all  go  to  distract  us  from 
the  fact  that  it  is  a  seriously  propounded  scheme  to  supplant 
God  in  His  own  world. 

The  Positivist  Religion  is  not  one  whose  claims  have  to 
be  met  and  disproved  by  solid  argument ;  the  divinity 
student  does  not  spend  much  time  in  controverting  it,  for 


A  PARODY  OF  THE  CATHOLIC  RELIGION  115 


he  IS  not  long  in  discovering  that  it  stands — almost  unique 
in  the  history  of  religious  thought — as  a  system  that  need?  no 
refutation.  Let  it  be  exposed  clearly,  preferably  in  the  very 
words  of  its  founder,  and  let  the  common  sense  of  mankind 
judge  it  without  the  aid  of  dialectics.  It  contains  its  own 
antidote. 

A  short  time  ago  Mr.  John  K.  Ingram,  LL.D.,  translated 
and  published  a  selection  of  such  passages  from  the  letters 
of  Auguste  Comte  as  bear  upon  the  social  views  of  the 
philosopher  and  the  religion  which  he  founded  in  his  later 
years.  Were  the  passages  published  by  an  anonymous 
compiler  one  might  be  led  to  suspect  that  there  was  an 
ironical  purpose  in  the  publication  and  that  the  editor 
aimed  at  refuting,  in  the  indirect  way  we  have  suggested, 
the  religious  views  contained  therein.  Mr.  Ingram  however, 
in  his  preface,  expresses  a  hope  that  '  the  extracts  will 
contribute  to  the  edification  of  serious  minds,'  and  there  is 
no  semblance  of  anything  less  than  the  highest  appreciation 
manifested  in  his  attitude  towards  his  author. 

The  modest  object  of  these  pages  is  to  present  in  brief 
Comte's  religious  views  as  set  forth  in  these  letters,  with 
occasional  supplementary  excerpts  from  the  more  systema- 
tised  exposition  of  his  doctrine  contained  in  his  Catechism 
of  Positive  Religion. 

In  order  to  understand  better  the  genesis  of  his  ideas 
it  may  be  useful  to  recall  a  few  biographical  details. 
Comte  was  born  m  1798  and  died  in  1875.  His  life  was 
divided  into  two  very  distinct  periods,  that  preceding  and 
that  following  the  year  1845.  The  work  of  the  first  period 
has  won  for  him  many  admirers  and  followers,  whereas  the 
extraordinary  and  eccentric  development  of  his  later  years 
has — to  use  Mr.  Balfour's  words — '  tried  the  fidelity  of  his 
disciples  and  the  gravity  of  his  critics.'  His  education  was 
encyclopaedic  in  extent ;  nor  does  it  appear  that  his  know- 
ledge of  any  branch  to  which  he  applied  himself  was  merely 
superficial.  His  Philosofhie  Positive  published  in  six  volumes 
between  the  years  1828  and  1841  gave  the  result  of  his 
studies  and  observations,  and  on  this  book  chiefly  is 
founded  whatever  reputation  he  has  acquired  as  a  thinker. 


Il6  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


At  the  commencement  of  this  work  he  formulated  his 
famous  Law  of  the  Three  States.  This  law  asserted  that 
the  thought  of  man,  in  each  branch  of  knowledge,  passes 
through  three  distinct  states — the  theological,  the  meta- 
physical, and  the  positive.  In  the  first,  the  theological, 
man  explains  natural  phenomena  by  an  appeal  to  some- 
thing personal  outside  nature.  This  stage  includes  all 
grades  of  belief  from  the  lowest  fetichism  and  polytheism 
to  the  highest  form  of  Deism  as  perfected  in  Christianity 
and  Catholicism.  Man's  thought  is  gradually  '  emanci- 
pated '  from  this  state,  and  passes  into  the  '  metaphysical ' 
in  which  law  and  force  are  considered  as  the  sole  and  suffi- 
cient explanation  of  phenomena.  The  third  or  '  positive ' 
state  is  reached  when  man  lays  aside  all  attempts  at  an 
explanation  of  the  causes  of  things  and  is  satisfied  with 
their  classification.  Comte  spent  the  greater  part  of  his 
life  in  this  state.  It  is  one  in  which  there  is,  evidently,  no 
room  for  religion,  and  it  seemed  to  be  the  mental  terminus 
of  scientific  unbelief. 

After  the  publication  of  these  volumes  circumstances 
brought  Comte  across  Madame  Clotilde  de  Vaux,  a  young 
lady  whose  personality  was  seriously  to  affect  Comte's 
philosophy.  To  her  influence  is  largely  attributed  the 
religious  developments  of  the  Politique  Positive  which 
embodied  Comte's  later  views.  He  had  married  in  1835, 
but  his  married  life  had  been  an  unhappy  one,  and  he  had 
divorced  his  wife  in  1842  on  grounds  of  incompability  of 
temper.  Madame  de  Vaux  was  herself  a  divorcee  whose 
husband  was  doing  a  life  sentence  of  penal  servitude  at  the 
time  of  her  meeting  with  Comte.  Their  intimacy  had  lasted 
but  a  year  when,  to  his  great  grief,  Madame  de  Vaux  died. 
Comte  thus  expresses  his  indebtedness  to  her  : — 

Through  her  I  have  at  length  become  for  humanity  in  the 
strictest  sense  a  two-fold  organ.  .  .  .  My  career  had  been 
that  of  Aristotle  ;  I  should  have  wanted  energy  for  that  of  St. 
Paul  but  for  her.  I  had  extracted  sound  philosophy  from  real 
science ;  I  was  enabled  by  her  to  found  on  the  basis  of  that 
philosophy  the  Universal  Religion. 

He  speaks  of  her  as  '  the  incomparable  angel  appointed  in 


A  PARODY  OF  THE  CATHOLIC  RELIGION  II7 


the  course  of  human  destiny  to  transmit  to  me  the  results  of 
the  gradual  evolution  of  our  moral  nature.'  She  is  his  '  in- 
comparable patroness,'  and  to  her  he  owes  an  '  incompar- 
able inspiration.'  Those  of  M.  Comte's  disciples  who 
foUow  him  in  his  religion  share,  but  in  a  calmer  tone,  his 
admiration  for  Mme.  de  Vaux.  Mr.  Ingram  closes  his  preface 
with  the  remark  that  '  the  names  of  Auguste  Comte  and 
Clotilde  de  Vaux  will  be  ever  inseparably  associated  in  the 
memory  of  a  grateful  posterity.'  Up  to  the  time  of  his 
meeting  with  Clotilde,  Comte  had  developed  his  head  at  the 
expense  of  his  heart.  Cold  science  had  been  far  more  to 
him  than  ardent  affection,  reason  ruled  his  emotions.  He 
appears  to  have  had  little  appreciation  of  the  tender  sex. 
Indeed,  the  year  before  he  met  Clotilde  de  Vaux^  he  wrote 
to  a  lady  friend  : — 

I  have  had  several  opportunities  of  becoming  acquainted 
with  women  distinguished  by  their  intellectual  ability,  but  you 
are  hitherto,  Madame,  the  only  one  in  whom  I  have  had  the 
happiness  of  seeing  moral  delicacy  united  with  mental  elevation. 
Those  in  whom  I  have  found  sufficient  real  superiority  to  be 
above  the  biue-stocking  habits  disappointed  me  by  showing  a 
deplorable  tendency  to  the  aberrations  of  the  femme  Hbre. 

Comte  considered  his  Politique  immensely  superior  to  his 
Philosophie.  He  even  admits  that  for  some  years  he  had 
sought  to  discoimtenance  the  reading  of  the  latter  by  his 
new  disciples,  as  to  it  he  attributed  the  chief  imperfections 
of  his  old  ones. 

'  I  ought  not  to  have  published  it  till  the  end  of  my 
career,  and  then  as  a  purely  historical  volume,'  he  writes. 
He  found  that  the  prestige  of  science  impeded  the  progress 
of  minds  the  most  completely  liberated  from  the  theological 
and  even  the  metaphysical  yoke.  Comte  admitted  that 
the  reading  of  his  Philosophie  had  an  enervating  effect  even 
on  himself  when,  after  neglecting  it  for  fifteen  years,  he  took 
it  up  to  read  some  chapters.  '  Besides  their  moral  dryness, 
which  made  me  read  immediately  a  canto  of  Ariosto  to 
restore  my  tone,  I  profoundly  felt  their  mental  inferiority 
in  relation  to  the  true  philosophic  view  at  which  the  heart 
has  completely  established  me.' 


ii8 


THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


But  to  turn  directly  to  the  new  religion,  which  Comte 
proposes  for  the  acceptance  of  those  who  have  been 
emancipated  by  his  Philosophie  from  the  theological  and 
metaphysical  states.  We  must  not  expect  it  to  be  too 
reasonable  for,  as  Comte  admits,  '  it  is  on  feeling  and 
imagination  that  the  ascendancy  of  Positivism  depends  ; 
reasoning  will  henceforth  be  secondary.'  With  regard  to  his 
new  God  Comte  says  :  '  We  condense  the  whole  of  our 
positive  conceptions  in  the  one  single  idea  of  an  immense 
and  eternal  Being,  Humanity.'  ('  Why  immense  and  why 
eternal  ?  '  the  Positive  catechumen  might  well  ask  his 
instructor.)  This  concept  Comte  explains  as  a  legitimate 
development  from  scientific  Positivism. 

The  subjective  theory  of  God  [he  writes]  enables  us  to 
conciliate  all  without  concessions  to  any,  by  showing  that 
theological  beliefs  were  spontaneous  institutions  of  Humanity 
for  providing,  in  her  childhood,  imaginary  guides  which  the 
predominant  species  could  not  find  in  the  real  order :  .  .  . 
we  now  pass  to  the  just  view — to  represent  the  pretended 
creator  as  really  a  creation,  not  of  man,  but  of  Humanity,  .  .  . 
Thus  the  Positivists  honour,  according  to  times  and  places,  first, 
the  gods  and  then  their  single  successor  as  provisional  creations 
of  the  Great  Being. 

Again,  he  writes  to  an  apostate  Positivist  who  had 
returned  to  Catholicism  : — 

Neither  calm  nor  dignity  is  any  longer  possible  for  the 
heart  and  intellect  of  the  VVesterns  of  our  day,  save  in  the 
bosom  of  Positivism,  which,  while  devoting  us  to  Humanity, 
directs  us  to  pay  fitting  honour  to  your  God  as  well  as  to  the 
divinities  which  preceded  him,  as  spontaneous  institutions 
which  She  developed  to  guide  Her  childhood,  though  they  have 
now  become  incapable  of  acceptance  by  Her  maturity. 

Comte  smiles  benignly  on  the  world  which  has  not  yet 
put  away  the  '  things  of  a  child,'  much  as  a  mother  with 
an  infant  in  her  arms  might  smile  on  the  little  girl  sitting  at 
her  feet  who  nurses  a  rag  doU  which  she  has  made. 

'Towards  Humanit , who  is  for  us  the  true  Great  Being,  we, 
the'l  conscious  elements  of  which  She  is  composed,  shall  hence- 
forth direct  every  aspect  of  our  life,  individual  or  collective. 


A  PARODY  OF  THE  CATHOLIC  RELIGION  II9 


Our  thoughts  will  be  devoted  to  the  knowledge  of  Humanity, 
our  affections  to  Her  love,  our  actions  to  Her  service.' 

To  meet  the  obvious  difficulty  that  much  of  Humanity, 
as  she  manifests  herself,  is  anything  but  an  object  of  supreme 
reverence,  Comte  explains  that  '  the  new  Great  Being  is 
formed  by  the  co-operation  only  of  such  existences  as  are  of 
a  kindred  nature  with  itself,  excluding  such  as  have  proved 
only  a  burden  to  the  human  race.' 

We  have  thus  an  amended  reading  for  the  first  questions 
in  our  Catechism  :  '  Who  made  you  ?  Humanity.  Why 
did  Humanity  make  you  ?  Humanity  made  me  to  know 
It,  to  love  It,  and  to  serve  It  in  this  world,  and  to  be ' — 
here,  however,  we  must  stop  ;  for  Humanity  has  no  world 
but  this,  and  so  we  cannot  '  be  happy  with  It  for  ever  in 
the  next.'  Comte  has  destroyed  immortality,  or,  rather, 
he  has  '  emancipated '  us  from  the  degrading  belief  in  the 
old  '  objective  immortality.'  We  ought  to  part  wiUingl^ 
with  that,  for  '  it  could  never  clear  itself  of  the  egoistic 
selfish  character.'  '  When  I  say  that  my  soul  is  im 
I  mean  that  my  soul  shall  never  die '  :  is  a  statemen 
crude  literal  significance  is  unworthy  of  altruism, 
allows  a  '  noble  subjective  immortality  to  our  . 
heaven  and  a  hell  which  is  freed  from  the  indivi 
of  the  theological  hell  and  heaven.  '  The  good 
interred  with  their  bones,'  is  a  line  the  truth  of 
Comte  would  stoutly  deny.  '  Why,'  he  would  say,  '  the  t, 
lives  after  them:  it  is  the  Subjective  Altruistic  Immorta 
of  their  souls'  '  Positivism,'  he  hastens  to  explain,  '  p 
serves  this  valuable  term  soul  to  stand  for  the  whole  o. 
our  intellectual  and  moral  functions  without  involving  any 
allusion  to  some  supposed  entity  answering  to  the  name.' 
These  intellectual  and  moral  functions  remain  in  their 
effects  on  a  grateful  or  ungrateful  posterity ;  and  thus  it 
is  that  our  soul  is  immortal. 

Humanity,  we  are  told,  is  the  real  Providence,  con- 
trolling our  destines :  '  We  are  in  circumstances  in  which 
Humanity,  by  the  whole  of  its  antecedents,  has  placed  us.' 
'  The  least  among  us  can  and  ought  to  aspire  constantly  to 


120  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


maintain  and  even  improve  this  Being.'  This  becomes  the 
natural  object  of  all  our  activity,  both  public  and  private; 
and  it  gives  the  character  of  our  whole  existence  either  in 
feeling  or  in  thought.  For  our  existence,  as  a  whole,  must 
be  devoted  to  love  and  to  know  in  order  rightly  to  serve 
our  Providence  by  a  wise  use  of  all  the  means  which  it 
furnishes  to  us.  In  its  turn  again,  this  continued  service  of 
our  lives,  whilst  strengthening  our  true  unity,  renders  us  at 
once  both  happier  and  better.  And  at  length  it  has  the 
power  to  incorporate  us  at  the  end  of  life  in  that  Great 
Being,  in  the  development  of  which  we  have  had  apart  to  bear. 

The  notion  of  this  new  God  is  not  one  easy  to  grasp  ; 
indeed,  Mr.  Harrison,  one  of  Comte's  most  enthusiastic  Eng- 
lish disciples,  admits  that  '  the  most  difficult  of  all  the  con- 
ceptions of  Positivism  is  the  abstract  sense  of  Humanity.' 
Comte  tells  us  that  this  Great  Being  '  can  be  decomposed 
into  its  chronological  Trinity — the  collective  beings  Priority, 
the  Public  and  Posterity  '  ;  that  is  to  say,  past,  present, 
d  future  mankind.  Of  this  Trinity,  Priority  is  primarily 
nosed  as  an  object  of  worship.  Comte,  however,  does 
'scourage  acts  of  adoration  of  the  living,  especially  if 
bstract  sense  of  Humanity'  is  concreted  in  some 
r  of  the  female  sex  who  inspires  a  tender  reverence, 
warns  us  of  our  duty  in  this  matter,  saying : — 

e  ought  to  push  as  far  as  adoration  our  respect  and  grati- 
for  living  beings  provided  they  offer  a  true  superiority, 
but  waiting  till  death  has  idealised  them.  .  .  .  Adoration 
comes  for  the  Positive  a  means  of  moral  improvement  to 
hich  he  ought  to  resort  in  as  great  a  degree  as  possible.  .  .  . 
n  the  Positive  State,  it  is  sufficient  that  the  adored  being, 
without  being  considered  perfect,  should  be  really  superior  to 
us,  even  though  this  superiority  should  be  only  partial, 
especially  if  it  concerns  the  heart,  as  in  the  ordinary  case  of 
feminine  types,  who  are  the  principal  objects  of  persona- 
worship. 

Writing  of  Clotilde  de  Vaux,  Comte  says  : — 

My  noble  and  tender  friend  understood  that  the  systemati- 
zation  of  the  worship  of  woman  was  to  form  one  of  the  chief 
social  results  of  the  new  philosophy.  It  was  just  that  the  great 
attribute  should  be  first  realized  in  my  private  adoration  of 


A  PARODY  OF  THE  CATHOLIC  RELIGION  121 


her.  .  .  .  She  is,  for  all  time,  incorporated  into  the  true 
Supreme  Being,  of  whom  her  tender  image  is  allowed  to  be  for 
me  the  best  representative.  In  each  of  my  three  daily  prayers 
I  adore  both  together. 

He  determines  that  in  painting  or  in  sculpture  the  symbol 
of  the  new  Divinity  will  always  be  a  woman  at  the  age  of 
thirty  with  her  son  in  her  arms. 

So  far  we  have  introduced  the  positive  God  and  the 
concrete  symbols  through  which  Abstract  Humruiity  was  to 
receive  its  worship.  Public  prayer  has  its  forms  provided, 
the  Roman  Missal  evidently  suggesting  such  an  Advent 
Collect  as  the  following : — Thou  Supreme  Power,  who  hast 
hitherto  guided  Thy  children  under  other  names,  but  in  this  genera- 
tion hast  come  to  Thy  own  in  Thy  own  proper  person  revealed  for 
all  ages  to  come  by  thy  Servant  Auguste  Comte,  etc. — a  prayer 
which,  we  believe,  is  recited  piously  by  present-day 
Positivists  at  their  religious  services. 

The  '  communion  of  saints '  has  its  analogue  in  the 
Positivist  system,  the  difference  being  that  Positive  saints 
being  incorporated  into  the  Divinity  receive  adoration 
proper. 

The  Comtest  martyrology  contains  over  five  hundred 
names.  It  includes  all  those  who  were  judged  by  Comte 
to  have  benefitted  their  posterity  in  any  marked  degree. 
The  thirteen  months  of  the  Positive  Calendar  are  dedicated 
to  Moses,  Homer,  Aristotle,  Archimedes,  Caesar,  St.  Paul, 
Charlemagne,  Dante,  Gutenburg,  Shakespeare,  Descartes, 
Frederick  IT,  Bichat.  These  are  the  greater  saints.  Each 
month  is  divided  into  four  weeks,  a  special  week-patron 
being  assigned  for  each.  Numa,  Budda,  Mahomet, 
iEschylus,  Virgil,  Plato,  St.  Augustine,  Hildebrand, 
St.  Bernard,  Milton,  Raphael,  Moliere,  Mozart,  Aquinas, 
Hume,  Cromwell,  Richelieu,  Innocent  III.,  St.  Louis — are 
names  of  some  of  these  week-saints  or  '  worthies,^  as 
Mr.  Congreve  calls  them  in  his  translation  of  the  Catechism. 
The  first  few  letters  in  Mr.  Ingram's  selection  are  dated  in 
the  customary  manner,  but,  after  arranging  his  calendar, 
Comte  heads  his  letters  with  such  dates  as  6  Homer, 
year  65  ;  8  St.  Paul,  i  Archimedes,  12  Cssar,  25  Moses. 


122  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


Canonization  is  at  the  discretion  of  the  head  of  the  Positive 
Religion  :  as  a  rule  it  is  not  proclaimed  till  seven  years  after 
a  'worthy's'  death.  In  a  letter  to  Alexander  J.  Ellis 
Comte  writes  : — 

I  thank  you  for  sending  me  the  two  extracts  from  the  unfor- 
tunate Shelley,  of  whom  I  have  formed  the  same  opinion  as 
you,  though  his  poems  were  hitherto  unknown  to  me.  After 
reading  these  important  passages,  I  resolved  to  give  their 
author  a  place,  as  adjunct  of  Byron,  in  the  next  reprint  of  the 
Positive  Calendar. 

Twenty-seven  lines  of  poetry  quoted  to  the  great  Pope 
of  Positivism  thus  won  his  apotheosis  for  Shelley. 

Comte  hoped  that  a  judicious  use  of  his  powers  of 
canonization  might  assist  materially  in  adding  to  the  number 
of  his  proselytes.  Thus,  in  a  letter  to  Henry  Edger,  he 
writes : — 

The  addition  of  the  name  of  the  admirable  Indian  weman 
Marina  to  the  Positive  Calendar  as  adjunct  to  Joan  of  Arc, 
ought  to  furnish,  at  the  right  time,  a  germ  of  some  adhesions 
amongst  the  unfortunate  Mexican  race,  who  will  thus  be  led  to 
feel  that  they  are  thought  of  at  Paris. 

He  similarly  hopes  to  win  Catholics  by  a  glorification  of 
the  Blessed  Virgin.    He  writes  to  Georges  Audiffent : — 

In  your  intended  communication  with  the  local  Jesuits,  I 
advise  you  to  represent  Positivism  as  condensed  in  the  Utopia 
of  the  Virgin  Mother,  which  must  attract  to  us  the  special 
attention  of  all  worthy  Catholics  of  both  sexes. 

Again — 

It  is  not  by  the  Mass  that  the  Catholic  cultus  can  serve  as  a 
preparation  for  the  Positive  adoration.  The  transition  will  be 
better  made  through  the  worship  of  the  Virgin  who  furnishes  to 
Spanish  and  Italian  souls  a  spontaneous  idealization  of  Humanity 
by  the  apotheosis  of  woman. 

Writing  to  John  Metcalf  he  says  : — 

In  relation  to  the  last  stage  of  Catholicism,  Positivists  should 
specially  glorify  the  Virgin  as  the  mystic  precursor  of  Humanity. 
Her  adoration  will  be  easily  transformed  so  as  to  lead  Catholic 
souls,  especially  those  of  women,  to  the  Positive  worship.  It  is 
chiefly  by  directing  this  transition  that  the  Jesuits,  regenerated 
as  Ignatians,  will  be  able  to  aid  us  in  reorganising  the  West, 


A  PARODY  OF  THE  CATHOLIC  RELIGION        1 23 


provided  only  that  they  recognise  the  normal  superiority  of  the 
religion  founded  on  the  natural  existence  of  the  benevolent 
inclinations,  which  Catholicism  was  forced  to  deny,  in  order  to 
leave  a  perfectly  clear  field  for  the  egoism  of  its  Divinity. 

A  religion  must  have  a  doctrine  as  well  as  an  object  of 
worship  :  a  creed  as  well  as  a  God.  The  Positive  faith  em- 
braces all  objects  of  positive  knowledge  from  the  multipli- 
cation table  and  the  fact  of  gravitation  to  the  laws  of 
political  economy. 

By  doctrine  Comte  meant  simply  the  sum  of  positive  know- 
ledge, the  consensus  of  all  science,  the  real  laws  of  the  whole  field 
of  phenomena,  physical  and  moral,  cosmological,  or  all  those 
relating  to  the  world,  and  sociological,  or  all  those  relating  to 
mankind.  Thus  is  science  reconciled  with  religion,  by  religion 
having  as  one  of  its  parts,  as  its  external  and  intellectual  basis 
the  sum  of  science.  -  Science  is  itself  in  its  natural  sense  the 
creed  .  .  .  which  religion  idealises  by  worship,  and  canries 
out  into  harmonious  action  by  discipline. 

Comte  was  the  first  High  Priest  of  Positivism.  He  says, 
in  1855  :— 

I  must  proceed,  with  the  assistance  of  all  true  Positivists,  to 
constitute  directly  a  priesthood,  which  cannot  always  consist  of 
myself  alone,  whatever  antipathy  its  creation  may  inspire  in 
literary  men  incapable  of  being  admitted  into  it  .  .  .  ReUgion 
is  insufficient  without  a  suitable  clergy. 

The  faithful  were  exhorted  to  contribute  a  regular  subsidy 
for  the  support  of  their  pastors.  As  High  Priest  Comte  was 
intolerant  of  interference  or  criticism  ;  he  complains  bitterly 
of  the  old  habits  of  distrust  and  insubordination  which 
prompt  some  Positivists  to  isolate  themselves  from  the  others 
and  even  schismatically  from  their  head. 

Even  though  pretended  Positivists  should  admit  all  our 
dogmas,  their  social  action  would  be  essentially  fruitless  if  they 
did  not  subordinate  themselves  to  the  universal  Pontiff,  the  one 
source  of  the  regenerating  group. 

Comte  is  the  supreme  and  infallible  judge  of  doctrine. 
The  duty  of  his  disciples  is,  he  tells  them,  to  propagate  and 
apply  his  doctrine  '  without  aiming  at  critising  or  even  im- 
proving it.'  In  1856  he  writes  to  Georges  Audiffent : — 

In  order  to  consolidate  and  develop  discipline,  by  creating 


124  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


the  first  element  of  a  hierarchy,  I  have  lately  proclaimed  in  the 
Positive  Society  my  thirteen  Testamentary  Executors,  and  have 
invited  my  followers  to  consider  the  persons  thus  chosen  as 
forming  a  fraternal  aristocracy  amongst  my  disciples,  which  will 
render  our  Church  more  stable  and  more  active,  since  no 
association  can  really  exist  without  inequality. 

The  Positive  priesthood  is  not  conferred  before  the  age 
of  42  :  aspirants,  corresponding  to  sub-deacons,  are  ordained 
at  28  ;  vicars  (or  deacons  ?)  at  35.  It  is  the  duty  of  Positive 
priests  to  instruct  the  faithful  in  their  creed — i.e.,  the 
sciences,  with  a  special  obligation  of  instructing  them  in 
ethics  and  politics.  The  preparation  for  the  due  performance 
of  this  task  involved  many  years  of  laborious  study.  There 
are  perhaps  no  degrees  conferred  in  a  modern  university 
which  a  really  well-trained  Positive  priest  would  be  unfitted 
to  receive,  except,  perhaps,  those  in  Divinity  ;  his  scientific 
studies  having  presumably  '  emancipated '  him  too  tho- 
roughly from  the  '  theological  state  '  for  a  serious  applica- 
tion of  his  mind  to  dogma.  A  Positive  aspirant  would  be 
unable  to  sign  the  Thirty-nine  Articles,  even  in  their  widest 
and  '  most  catholic  '  sense.  Marriage  is  an  essential  pre- 
requisite to  taking  vicar's  orders  ;  Comte  having  decided 
that  no  man  could  duly  perform  the  duty  of  a  priest  unless 
he  were  constantly  under  the  influence  of  woman.  A  bachelor 
was— in  theological  language — irregularis. 

The  new  religion  was  well  provided  with  sacraments. 
They  number  nine,  viz  :  Presentation,  Initiation,  Admission, 
Destination,  Marriage,  Maturity,  Retirement,  Transforma- 
tion, and  Incorporation. 

'  Mixed  marriages  are,'  says  Comte,  '  one  of  the  essential 
privileges  of  Positivism.  They  will  be  frequent  in  the  early 
future,  so  as  to  promote  the  universal  advent  of  the  final 
faith.' 

One  of  Comte's  disciples,  Henry  Edger,  wrote  to  him 
about  a  scheme  for  instituting  Positive  monasteries  of  a  kind, 
but  he  was  sharply  checked  by  his  chief  : — 

I  cannot  adopt  your  project  of  a  sort  of  Positivist  monastery. 
It  seems  to  me  directly  opposed  to  the  development  of  the 
domestic  affections,  which  our  religion  regards  as  the  necessary 
foundation  of  social  existence.    If,  amongst  the  exceptional 


A  PARODY  OF  THE  CATHOLIC  RELIGION  12$ 


men  who  surround  you,  some,  weary  of  their  isolation,  feel  a 
vague  impulse  to  come  together,  it  is  far  better  that  the  pressure 
should  push  them  toward  family  life. 

Corate  discovered  that  the  Imitation  of  Christ  could  be 
adopted  to  meet  the  needs  of  his  new  disciples.  It  was  his 
practice  to  read  a  chapter  of  a  Kempis  every  morning,  and 
he  tells  one  of  his  correspondents  that  if  he  made  it  a  rule 
to  read  the  Imitation  daily  he  would  gain  more,  intellec- 
tually and  morally,  than  by  an  endless  perusal  of  journals, 
reviews,  or  pamphlets.  He  did  not  venture  to  publish  an 
amended  edition  of  a  Kempis,  saying :  '  At  present  the 
transformation  of  the  Imitation  by  substituting  Humanity 
for  God  does  not  seem  to  me  capable  of  a  suitable  execution 
for  the  public,  notwithstanding  its  private  utility  for  all 
true  Positivists.'  He  strongly  disapproved  of  the  Bible  : 
'  The  substitution  of  this  dangerous  reading,  which  has 
only  an  historical  value,  for  that  of  the  Imitation  would 
be  an  anarchical  retrogradation.' 

The  founder  of  Positivism  did  not  look  for  the  immediate 
and  universal  diffusion  of  his  religion  through  the  world,  for 
he  was  aware  that  the  greater  bulk  of  mankind  showed  no 
anxious  desire  to  be  '  emancipated '  from  the  theological, 
metaphysical,  and  scientific  states.  He  was,  however,  con- 
vinced that  his  invention  was  a  panacea  for  the  ills  of  man- 
kind, and  he  had  no  doubts  about  its  ultimate  acceptance 
by  the  majority  of  men.  Comte  possessed  at  least  one 
qualification  essential  to  success  in  the  foundation  of  a  new 
school  of  thought,  he  believed  fully  in  himself  and  in  his 
mission.  '  Positivists,'  he  writes  to  Mr.  Hutton,  '  destined 
as  they  are  to  direct  the  world,  .  .  .  cannot  fulfil  their 
mission  aright  without  a  constant  feeling  of  their  mental 
and  moral  superiority.'  '  Positivism  is  henceforth  without 
any  competitor  in  the  intellectual  and  moral  reorganisation 
of  the  West.'  Comte  concluded  his  third  course  of  philoso- 
phical lectures  on  the  general  history  of  Humanity  with 
these  words : — 

In  the  name  of  the  Past  and  of  the  Future,  the  Servants  of 
Humanity — theoricians  and  practicians— come  forward  to 
claim  as  their  due  the  general  direction  of  the  world  in  order  to 


126  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


construct  at  last  the  true  Providence,  moral,  intellectual,  and 
material ;  excluding  once  and  for  all  from  political  supremacy 
all  the  different  servants  of  God — Catholic,  Protestant,  or  Deist — 
as  at  once  belated  and  a  source  of  trouble. 

Again, — 

The  Faith  of  Positivists,  now  complete,  enables  them  to  offer 
decisive  and  coherent  solutions  on  all  questions  of  the  past,  the 
future,  and  even  of  the  present,  which  can  ever  arise,  whilst 
always  exhibiting  the  character  which  I  have  summed  up  in  the 
formula,  '  Conciliatory  in  act,  inflexible  in  principle.'  Neither 
calm  nor  dignity  is  any  longer  possible  for  the  Westerns  of  our 
day,  save  in  the  bosom  of  Positivism. 

According  to  Comte's  announcement  the  twentieth  century 
is  to  see  Positivism  sufficiently  accepted  by  the  rulers  of  the 
world.  He  congratulates  himself  in  1853  on  the  fact  that 
*  the  British  Cabinet  contained  one  incomplete  Posiiivist.' 
'  Conservatives,'  he  says,  '  are  everywhere,  and  especially 
in  the  United  States,  naturally  the  best  adherents  of 
Positivism.' 

Comte  was  disappointed  with  the  British  workingman. 
He  speaks  of  his  '  distrust  and  reserve,'  of  his  '  obstinately 
passive  though  by  no  means  indifferent  attitude '  towards 
Social  and  Religious  Positivism.    He  says,  however. 

Positivism  must  find  among  the  workingmen  of  America  the 
best  promoters  ol  the  regeneration  of  the  British  proletariate, 
too  much  repressed  in  the  mother  country  by  aristocratic 
domination  and  the  Anglican  hypocrisy. 

Of  the  French  working  class  he  says,  in  1857  • — 

It  is  truly  a  shame  that  M.  Magnin  is  hitherto  the  only 
French  workingman  whom  Positivism  has  thoroughly  converted, 
though  his  old  revolutionary  habits  still  often  show  themselves 
in  the  details  of  civic  life. 

The  philosopher  was  anxious  to  win  the  support  of  the 
Society  of  Jesus,  and  sent  a  representative  to  Rome  in  1857 
to  interview  Father  Beckx,  the  General  of  the  Order.  As 
might  be  expected  the  latter  refused  to  accept  any  league 
which  had  not  for  its  direct  object  the  triumph  of  the  name 
of  Jesus.  Nothing  daunted  Comte  renewed  the  attempt  by 
forwarding  to  Father  Beckx  copies  of  the  Positive  Catechism 
and  his  Appeal  to  Conservatives.    The  receipt  of  the  books 


A  PARODY  OF  THE  CATHOLIC  RELIGION  I27 


was  acknowledged — a  fact  which  Comte hopefully  comments 
on  as  follows  :■ — 

I  feared  the  Papal  Customs  might  intercept  the  transmission 
by  post  of  my  presentation.  His  (Fr.  Beckx')  written  thanks  have 
been  quite  courteous  to  M.  Sabatier  and  me  ;  we  now  entertain 
the  hope  that  the  books  will  be  seriously  read  at  the  Jesuit 
centre.  .  .  .  Perhaps  the  reading  of  these  books  may  strike 
the  present  chiefs  of  Catholicism  (sic)  sufficiently  to  induce  them 
to  utilise  the  sojourn  at  Rome  of  my  excellent  envoy  without 
waiting  for  the  publication  of  my  Appeal  to  the  Ignatians.  In 
designating  them  as  Ignatians,  I  recall  the  fact  that  our  calendar 
has  justly  honoured  their  chief,  and  I  deliver  them  from  a  name 
as  faulty  in  itself  as  it  is  associatad  with  general  discredit.  .  .  . 
They  can,  however,  only  serve  as  our  auxiliaries,  accepting  our 
presidency,  after  having  recognised  our  superiority — especially 
on  the  moral  side. 

Comte  regarded  Catholicism  as  the  creed  most  closely 
allied  to  his  own,  and  he  welcomed  conversions  from 
Protestantism  to  the  Catholic  faith  as  a  step  towards  recep- 
tion into  his  own  religion.  He  counted  on  enlisting  one  in 
every  hundred  of  the  French  clergy — an  expectation  which 
in  the  sequel,  we  need  hardly  say,  was  not  realised. 

Such,  then,  is  Religious  Positivism.  We  trust  that  the 
less  formal  expression  of  Comte's  thoughts  on  the  great 
question  may  have  proved  interesting  to  those  of  our 
readers  who  have  not  seen  the  published  editions  of  his 
letters  to  his  intimates. 

We  have  to  be  grateful  to  the  founder  of  Positivism  for 
one  striking  omission  in  the  exposition  of  his  new  faith. 
He  has  not  trifled  with  that  name  which  was  given  to  the 
truest  and  greatest  representative  of  Humanity,  the  real 
benefactor  and  regenerator  of  our  race.  Whom  we  can  adore 
without  idolatry,  the  name  which  is  above  all  names,  at 
the  sound  of  which  every  knee  should  bow.  Jesus  Christ  is 
not  mentioned  in  any  of  Comte's  letters  nor  in  his  Catechism. 

In  the  latter  he  alludes  indirectly  to  Christ  when  he 
attributes  the  foundation  of  Christianity  to  St.  Paul, 
'  whose  sublime  self-abnegation  facilitated  the  growth  of 
the  new  unity  by  accepting  a  founder  who  had  no  claim.' 
St.  Paul,  he  would  say,  is  the  first  great  altruist  for, 


128 


THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


having  himself  introduced  Cathohcism  into  the  world,  he 
attributed  its  foundation  to  Christ. 

We  have  finished  our  brief  description  of  Comte's  parody 
of  Christianity.  Does  it  need  any  refutation  ?  We  think 
that  our  readers  will  agree  with  us  that  nothing  can  so 
effectually  bring  its  absurdity  into  prominence  as  the 
simple  exposition  of  its  doctrines  and  ritual.  '  Love  your 
fellowmen '  is  the  only  moral  precept  of  any  value  which 
it  promulgates  :  but  nineteen  hundred  yed.vs  ago  that  lesson 
was  inculcated  by  the  words  and  example  of  Him  who  laid 
down  His  life  for  love  of  His  fellowmen,  and  who  having 
drawn  to  Himself  the  love  of  all,  with  a  higher  altruism 
reflected  the  rays  of  charity  upon  mankind,  saying  to  those 
who  love  Him  :  '  What  ye  do  to  the  least  of  these  My  little 
ones.  Amen  I  say  to  ye,  you  are  doing  it  to  Me.'  '  By  this 
shall  men  know  that  ye  are  My  disciples,  that  ye  love  one 
another.' 

Francis  Woodlock,  s.j. 


THE  CASE  OF  IRELAND  AGAINST  THE  SCIENCE 
AND  ART  DEPARTMENT 


HE  South  Kensingson  Department  of  Science,'  writes 
Dr.  Chalmers  Mitchell, '  is  probably  the  most  costly, 


the  most  wasteful,  and  the  most  stupid  of  our 
educational  shams.'  So  quotes  Fr.  Dowling  in  his  fine 
paper  in  your  issue  of  December  last,  entitled  '  Save  the 
Child.'  'And,'  says  Father  Dowling,  '  we  are  being  South 
Kensingtonised  here.' 

I  propose  to  give  some  account  of  the  history  and 
workings  of  this  Department  in  Ireland,  and  to  make  such 
a  case  as  will  encourage  our  Parliamentary  representatives 
to  bring  the  matter  forward  in  the  debate  on  the  x\ddress, 
or  at  such  other  time  as  may  be  opportune. 

My  case  will  be  confined  to  four  points,  which  are  : — 
(i)  The  manner  in  which  the  London  Science  and  Art  De- 


IRELAND  AND  SCIENCE  &  ART  DEPARTMENT  129 


partraent  has  for  the  past  fourteen  years  administered  the 
Equivalent  Grant,  so  that  Ireland  could  not  get  its  full 
share  of  the  money  ;  (2)  The  failure  of  the  alternative  system 
known  as  the  May  Examination  System,  which  the  Science 
and  Art  Department  forced  on  this  country  ;  (3)  The  capture 
by  the  Science  and  Art  Department  of  £58,629,  if  not  more, 
of  Irish  money  ;  and  (4)  The  loss  which  the  discontinuance 
of  the  Equivalent  Grant  would  mean  to  Ireland. 

The  principal  Acts  effecting  Ireland  in  the  matter  of 
technical  education  are  the  Technical  Instruction  Act  of 
1889,  and  the  Agriculture  and  Technical  Instruction  (Ireland) 
Act,  1899.  Fifteen  years  ago  the  Technical  Instruction  Act 
of  1889  laid  down  that  the  conditions  on  which  Parliamentary 
Grants  might  be  made  in  Ireland  in  aid  of  technical  or 
manual  instruction  should  be  those  contained  in  the  minutes 
of  the  Department  of  Science  and  Art  for  the  time  being. 
This  enactment  placed  the  interpretation,  the  entire  working 
out  and  management  of  the  Act  of  1889,  in  the  hands  of  the 
Science  and  Art  Department. 

Now,  what  did  the  Department  do  with  these  enormous 
powers  ?  How  did  it  seek  to  discharge  the  public  trust 
so  imposed  upon  it  ?  Why,  it  at  once  drew  up  a  special 
minute  so  oppressive  in  character  to  Ireland  as  to  render 
the  working  of  the  Act  an  impossibility  in  this  country — a 
minute,  mark  you,  affecting  Ireland  alone.  This  minute 
will  be  found  at  page  62  of  the  Science  and  Art  Directory  for 
1900,  and  is  as  follows  : — 

Grants  will  be  made  in  Ireland  in  aid  of  technical  instruc- 
tion given  under  the  Technical  Instruction  Act,  i88g.  The  grant 
in  aid  will  be  made  to  the  school  aided  by  the  Local  Authority, 
and  will  be  equal  in  amount  to  the  sum  contributed  by  the  Local 
Authority  out  of  the  rates  for  instruction  in  subjects  other  than 
those  for  which  the  Board  gives  aid  under  the  Science  and  Art 
Directory. 

That  is  what  is  known  as  the  Equivalent  Grant.  The 
above  minute  declares  that  the  Department  will  give  tech- 
nical schools  in  Ireland  no  money  out  of  the  Equivalent 
Grant,  for  teaching  any  subject  which  the  Department 
may  have  taken  upon  itself  to  place  upon  the  index  to  its 


VOL.  XV. 


I 


I30  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


Directory.  Now  when  the  Department  drew  up  this  penal 
law  which  affected  Ireland  alone,  it  set  out  in  its  Directory 
almost  every  subject  which  could  be  taught  in  an  Irish 
technical  school,  so  as  to  limit  the  benefits  of  the  Equiva- 
lent Grant  to  Ireland.  For  example,  the  Department  would 
not  allow  any  money  out  of  the  Equivalent  Grant  for 
teaching  the  principles  of  tillage,  meadowing,  or  pasturage, 
the  scientific  application  of  manures,  dairy  work,  poultry 
management,  or  the  treatment  of  live  stock,  because,  for- 
sooth, all  these  subjects  formed  branches  of  the  Department's 
subject  called  Agriculture,  and  Agriculture  was  one  of  the 
banned  subjects  set  out  in  the  Directory  of  the  Department 
in  respect  of  which  no  money  would  be  paid  out  of  the 
Equivalent  Grant.  Here  at  one  stroke  of  the  pen  this 
London  Department  deprived  the  whole  farming  classes  of 
Ireland  of  the  benefits  of  the  Equivalent  Grant.  The  result 
of  this  London  worked  system  was,  that  from  1889  local 
authorities  in  Ireland  naturally  hesitated  to  levy  a  rate  for 
instruction  in  technical,  manual,  or  agricultural  subjects,  in 
the  vain  hope  of  getting  an  equivalent  grant  from  the  Science 
and  Art  Department. 

In  the  year  i8g8  I  had  occasion  to  investigate  the  working 
of  the  Equivalent  Grant  in  Ireland,  and  as  a  result  of  my 
inquiries  I  found  that  in  no  case  was  a  technical  school  in 
Ireland  able  to  obtain  from  the  Science  and  Art  Department 
a  grant  equal  in  amount  to  that  raised  by  the  local  rates  for 
technical  instruction.  The  school  managers  in  Ireland  did 
the  best  they  could  to  get  the  grant.  I  knew  one  school 
where  artisans  were,  amongst  other  things,  taught  to  work 
simple  sums  and  do  a  little  writing.  The  managers  of  this 
school  asked  for  a  portion  of  the  Equivalent  Grant  for  their 
year's  work  in  these  subjects,  but  the  Department  said  that 
it  could  not  pay  fees  for  teaching  mere  writing,  and  as  for 
sums,  that  sums  were  arithmetic,  that  arithmetic  was  a 
branch  of  mathematics,  and  that  mathematics  was  one  of 
the  science  subjects  mentioned  in  the  Directory  of  the 
Department,  in  respect  of  which  no  portion  of  the  Equiva- 
lent Grant  could  be  paid.  So  the  managers  lost  their  fees 
that  year.    The  next  year  they  came  with  enlightened 


IRELAND  AND  SCIENCE  &  ART  DEPARTMENT  I31 


minds,  and  while  teaching  the  writing  and  the  sums  as 
before  they  called  these  subjects  by  the  grand  name  of 
Commercial  Penmanship  and  Accounts.  And  they  got  paid 
for  them  out  of  the  Equivalent  Grant  that  year  as  Com- 
mercial Subjects.  The  London  Depailment  was  not  a  bit 
deceived  by  these  methods.  It  had  placed  obstructions  in 
the  way  of  the  Irish  Managers,  who,  in  turn,  disposed  of 
those  obstructions  by  walking  round  them. 

But  these  were  not  the  sole  results  of  this  London  system. 
The  Department  determined  to  drive  the  Irish  schools  into 
using  the  May  Examination  System,  forming  Science  and 
Art  Classes,  and  seeking  to  obtain  results  fees  by  passing 
the  May  Examinations.  But  with  what  results  ?  The 
Department's  own  inspector  tells  us.  In  the  Forty-fourth 
Report  of  the  Science  and  Art  Department,  page  64,  Mr.  T. 
Preston,  Science  Inspector  to  the  Department,  reports  as  to 
the  Science  and  Art  Classes  in  Ireland  as  follows  : — 

In  a  previous  report  I  have  directed  attention  to  the  generally 
defective  state  of  science  instruction,  and  to  the  almost 
complete  absence  of  'local  effort'  in  Ireland.  I  regret  that  I 
am  unable  to  report  any  improvement  in  this  state  of  affairs 
during  the  two  years  which  have  since  elapsed,  but  rather  the 
reverse  ;  for,  while  there  has  been  neither  advance  in  the  method 
of  teaching,  nor  increase  of  local  interest  or  effort,  there  has  been 
a  persistent  and  serious  falling  off  in  the  number  of  schools  work- 
ing in  connection  with  the  Department,  as  well  as  the  number 
of  students  presented  annually  for  examination,  and  the  amount 
of  grant  earned.  Mr.  Preston  then  goes  into  figures  as 
follows  : — 


IRELAND. 

UNITED 
KINGDOM. 

Year. 

Totel  Number 
of  Schools. 

SCIENCE. 

ART. 

Total 
Results 

Paid 
in 
Ireland. 

Total 
Results 
Paid  ill  the 
United 
Kingdom. 

Pupils 
Presented 

Results 
Paid. 

Pupils 
Presented 

Result'? 
Paid. 

i;  s.  d. 

£    s.  d. 

£  s.  d. 

£     s.  d. 

1893 

236 

9,157 

5,607  5  10 

4,443 

1,716  0  2 

7,325  6  0 

182,532  13  10 

1894 

201 

7,388 

4,175  7  11 

4,156 

1,754  13  11 

5,930  1  10 

197,136  18  5 

1895 

182 

6,547 

3,514  15  11 

3,885 

1,294  11  7 

4,809  7  fi 

202,268  18  2 

132  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


Mr.  Preston  continues  : — 

Taking  the  examination  results  for  1893,  1894,  and  1895, 
as  exhibited  in  the  accompanying  table,  it  will  be  seen  that  there 
has  been  a  continuous  and  alarming  decrease  in  the  amount  of 
grant  earned  by  Irish  schools,  and  this  cannot  be  attributed 
merely  to  the  falling  away  of  weak  schools  ;  for  the  figures  show 
that,  although  the  number  of  schools  in  connection  has  decreased, 
yet  the  total  grant  earned  has  decreased  in  a  greater  proportion, 
and  the  average  amount  of  grant  earned  per  school  has  decreased 
as  well  as  the  average  amount  per  student,  and  this  notwith- 
standing the  fact  that  the  whole  grant  awarded  to  the  United 
Kingdom  has  steadily  increased  from  3'ear  to  year. 

Under  the  existing  circumstances,  I  do  not  think  it  likely 
that  the  teaching  of  Science  is  likely  to  improve  in  the  schools, 
and  the  same  may  to  a  large  extent  be  said  of  Art.  No  doubt, 
the  educational  systems  at  present  in  force  might  be  very  easily 
modified  so  as  to  place  Science  and  Art  instruction  on  a  sound 
basis,  or,  at  any  rate  so  as  to  give  instruction  in  these  subjects 
a  fair  chance. 

The  returns  of  the  Department  for  1896  show  that  the 
total  number  of  science  schools  in  Ireland  working  in  con- 
nection with  the  Department  decreased  to  140,  while  the 
total  results  paid  in  the  United  Kingdom  rose  to  £231,139, 
Ireland's  share  of  which  was  only  £4,213. 

Here  is  a  complete  admission  by  one  of  its  own  officials 
of  the  failure  of  South  Kensington  to  deal  with  the  problem 
of  science  and  art  and  technical  instruction  in  Ireland.  But 
this  report  and  these  results  did  not  affect  the  London 
Department.  It  boldly  told  Parliament  that  it  was  doing 
splendidly  in  Ireland.  Parliament  gave  it  all  the  money 
asked  for,  and  charged  the  credit  of  Ireland  with  the  bill* 
Let  us  look  into  the  figures.  We  find  that  the  Science  and 
Art  Department  has  been  in  the  habit,  from  1889  to  1897,  of 
taking  separate  votes  on  the  Civil  Service  Estimates  for 
Results  Fees  in  Science  and  Art  for  Ireland  and  Great  Britain. 
But  while  the  gross  vote  for  Ireland  remained  pretty  con- 
stant the  expenditure  under  this  sub-head  diminished 
steadily  from  £8,481  in  1890  to  £4,213  in  1896,  with  the 
result  that  there  has  been  a  big  balance  of  Irish  money  each 
year  left  in  the  hands  of  the  Department.  The  tot  of  these 
balances  for  eight  years  makes  the  grand  total  of  £58,629 


IRELAND  AND  SCIENCE  &  ART  DEPARTMENT  133 


of  Irish  money  retained  by  the  Department  during  that 
period,  or  on^an  average  of  about  £7,500  a  year. 

The  following  table,  compiled  from  the  official  returns 
of  the  Department  itself,  will  show,  amongst  other  things, 
how  this  £58,629  is  obtained. 


Estimates  vor  Science  and  Aki'  in  Ihei.and. 

1-          CO      00              ^      CP      ifS  C5 
,    ,    ,    ,  05        05     'f5     f-H     C9     ^     05  'O 

0  Odo005050^(^ 

•juai  vpvo 
uoi5"Boupj[  XTJOiuiioax 

500 

1,000 

•2,500  (a 
1,860  b 
2,500  a 
2,016  b) 
2,500  a 
2,422  (b) 

-^■rWOOO           0      0      0                t-  -M 
^'  «D  CD  CD  ..a^O.         0      CD      CC      00      0      0  w 
^'c^ToJO-fc^T          of               ,H  — r  CnT 

OOC5,Hr-(           tH      r-(      0      m      0      -tl  CO 

T     ec  CC  C>3  0        u5     »o     »o     »o  r« 
(>fN  c^^(^^^^f            of   csf  of 

•jiaAjng  x'BoiSotoag 

4,970 

5,924 
5,701 
4,951 

3,007 
2,028 
2.069 
2,138 
1,807 
1885 
1,952 

•uiiqna  "iiY  }0  \oo^os 

621 

850 
850 

810 
820 
830 
840 
1,715 
1,772 
1,757 

1,470 
1,677 
1,980 
1,783 
1,834 

1,799 
1,853 
1.748 
1,972 
2,017 
2,041 
1,800 

IJrv  puu  aouaps 

OtMOi— ICO           CD      0      05  Ci 

OTr-03eoc<i        c<j  1— t    05  C 
Si     to  00  CD           rH           T*i  c 

1-A  ^ifi  00  05                   N  f> 

13,418 
14,224 
13,403 

•uiAaasmo 
'suapi-BQ  omi3C)oa 

1,931 
2,148 
2,550 
2,851 
3,030 

3,022 
3,172 
3,209 
3,227 
3.235 
3.368 
3,398 

'oouaiog  30  aSanoo  I'BiOH 

6,803 
6,883 
6,480 
6,845 
6.927 

6,999 
7,021 
6,937 
6,916 
6,908 
7,145 
7,067 

0}  pm)[aji  u;  soa^  s^insajj 

4j  S  t,      =55,    ^£.*..Q_g^         cSJD  cS.a  c«  3 
'^>-^     Qt^Tt^    tr'^cccc-.^if^cooooaiocct^a:^.  o 

Estimates  eok 
Science  and  Art  in 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland. 

Total. 

£ 

257,980 
386,958 
450,599 
533,601 
633,419 

670.460 
701,198 
775.691 
819,447 
867,490 
932,326 
932,690 

£ 
15,968 
6,346 
17,241 
16,643 
14,487 

Suppl. 
25,000 
11,594 
14,387 

14,577 

14.432 

19,368 
19,340 
13,286 

•nmastiM  qsnpa 

£ 

9,765 
102,442 

152,133 
155,975 

155,970 
155,825 
161,060 
160.000 

156,1" 

193,830 

164,609 

'aaauiq.i'Bdafi 
qjy  pu^  aauaiog 
joj  a;oA  iTjtitmv  mox 

£ 

232,253 
278,170 

O.JO  A(\f\ 

364,825 
462,957 

474,896 
530,986 
600,054 
645,015 

69-2,122 
719,156 
754,795 

MnaA  I 

o  lO  o  >(5  o        I-*  <22 
t-^t^oooQOs        c:    OS    O)  OS 

COOOCOOOOO           00      CO      00  CO 

1895 
1896 
18,97 

05 
a> 

a 
•v 
'o 
m 


5 


In  order  that  the  £58,629  may  be  arrived  at  an  amplifica- 
tion of  column  number  6  of  the  above  table  is  necessary. 


134  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


Year 

Total  Amount  of 
Estimate  for  Ire- 
land for  Science 
and  Art  Results 
Fees  to  31st  De- 
cember each  year. 

Actual  Amount 

of  Estimate 
spent  in  Ireland. 

Actual  Amount  of 
Estimate  retained 

by  Science  and 
Art  Department. 

1 

Percentages.  S 
Amounts  S 
Retained.  | 

1890 

13,854 

£ 
8,481 

£ 

5,373 

38-80 

1891 

15,237 

7,534 

7,703 

50-56  1 

1892 

12,586 

7,253 

5,333 

42-37  1 

1893 

14,414 

7,325 

7,689 

4S'1S 

1894 

11,868 

5,030 

5,938 

50-00 

1895 

13,348 

4,809 

8,539 

64-00 

1896 

13,770 

4,213 

9,557 

69-46 

1897 

13,097 

Unascertained 
Say,  4,000 

9,097 

69-32 

Totals,  108,174 

49,545 

58,629 

Av.  54-26 

The  question  now  arises,  what  became  of  this  £58,629  ? 
From  the  foregoing  tables  it  will  be  seen  that  the  entire 
money  voted  to  the  Science  and  Art  Department  for  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland  has  almost  invariably  been  expended 
— in  some  cases  exceeded.  The  conclusion  is  that  the 
Department  estimated  for  a  larger  vote  than  was  required 
in  order  to  have  at  its  disposal  funds  which,  by  a  subsequent 
arrangement,  might  be  made  available  for  England,  thereby 
depriving  Ireland  of  more  than  half  its  vote  for  Science  and 
Art.  As  shown  by  the  tables  above  a  separate  estimate 
for  Ireland  had  been  given  for  the  years  i88g  to  1897  in 
these  Science  and  Art  Estimates.  But  no  separate  estimate 
has  been  given  since. 

In  the  Civil  Service  Estimates  since  1896  there  is  simply 
a  gross  estimate  for  Science  and  Art  for  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland.  Does  not  this  concealment  show  a  guilty  mind 
on  the  part  of  the  Department  ?  On  the  15th  of  July,  1898, 
a  question  was  asked  in  the  House  of  Commons  why  it  was 
that  the  grant  for  the  Science  and  Art  Department  in  Ireland 
was  not  placed  separately  on  the  list  and  included  with  the 
other  Irish  votes,  as  was  done  in  the  case  of  Scotland.  And 
Sir  John  Gorst,  the  Minister  for  Education,  replied  : — 

That  as  the  Science  and  Art  Department  in  London  was 
responsible  for  the  Science  and  Art  Department  in  Ireland  it 


IRELAND  AND  SCIENCE  &  ART  DEPARTMENT  135 


was  impossible  to  separate  the  votes  ;  that  the  Scotch  Office 
had  taken  charge  of  the  Department  in  Scotland,  and  when  the 
Irish  Office  did  the  same  for  Ireland  the  change  could  be 
made. 

So  that  all  the  Irish  public  had  to  do  was  to  wait  patiently 
until  the  new  Irish  Department  of  Agriculture  and  Technical 
Instruction  was  formed,  when  all  evils  would  be  removed. 
This  same  night  in  the  debate  on  the  Irish  Estimates  it  was 
pointed  out  that  the  money  spent  for  technical  education 
in  Ireland  was  ludicrously  insufficient. 

While  as  much  as  8d.,  gd.,  and  even  lod.,  per  head  was 
the  allowance  in  England  and  Scotland,  in  Ireland  the  highest 
allowance  was  6d.  per  head  which  was  for  County  Dublin  ; 
while  Cork  had  2^^d.  per  head,  Waterford  id.,  Kerry  -^d., 
my  own  County  of  Wicklow  ^d.,  and  so  on,  as  low  down  as 
one-fortieth  of  a  penny  in  the  case  of  Donegal.  And  it  was 
asked  how  were  the  people  of  Donegal  and  Wicklow  to  con- 
tribute out  of  the  rates, — for  that  was  what  it  came  to, — 
to  compete  with  rich  districts  in  England.  It  was  impossible 
to  do  so.  Then  the  Chief  Secretary  (who  is  now  Premier  of 
England)  felt  the  force  of  the  case  that  had  been  made,  and 
stated  that  he  was  about  to  bring  in  a  Bill  on  the  subject  and 
to  form  a  new  Department  in  Dublin  for  the  purpose  of 
developing  agriculture  and  for  the  promotion  of  technical 
education  in  Ireland.  We  know  that  the  Agriculture  and 
Technical  Instruction  Act  of  1899  was  then  passed,  and 
the  present  Department  formed  in  Dublin.  To  this  new 
Irish  Department  many  powers  were  given  for  the  promo- 
tion of  technical  education  is  Ireland,  amongst  others  (i) 
the  administration  of  the  Science  and  Art  Department  in 
Ireland  ;  (2)  the  administration  in  Ireland  of  the  grant  in  aid 
of  technical  instruction  as  defined  by  the  Act  of  1889  and 
which  is  commonly  known  as  the  Equivalent  Grant. 

To  assist  in  carrying  out  these  objects  a  grant  ^55,000  a 
year  was  made  in  aid  of  technical  instruction.  So  thai 
Ireland  now  had  three  sources  of  revenue  for  the  work, 
namely — (i)  The  Science  and  Art  Grant ;  (2)  The  Equivalent 
Grant  ;  and  (3)  The  £55,000  a  year.  Local  authorities  were 
empowered  to  raise  2d.  in  the  £  on  the  rateable  value,  that 


136  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


is  under  the  Act  of  1889,  and  another  id.  under  the  Act 
of  1899.  The  Irish  Act  of  1899  directed  that  all  these 
moneys  were  to  be  applied  only  with  the  approval  of  the 
new  Irish  Department. 

The  London]  Science  and  Art  Department  were  then 
issuing  minutes  in  the  most  liberal  manner  enabling  technical 
schools  in  Ireland  to  avoid  the  penal  clause  which  prevented 
Irish  schools  being  paid  out  of  the  Equivalent  Grant  for 
subjects  set  out  in  the  Directory  of  the  Department.  Irish 
schools  were  to  get  paid  on  all  sorts  of  subjects.  The 
London  Department  preserved  an  amusing  appearance 
of  consistency  in  connection  with  the  penal  clause  which 
at  this  time  was  still  to  be  found  in  the  Directory. 
The  Directory  emphatically  stated  that  no  fees  could 
be  paid  out  of  the  Equivalent  Grant  for  dairy-work,  as 
dairy- work  was  a  branch  of  the  Directory  subject, 
agriculture.  The  minutes,  however,  stated  that  fees 
could  be  earned  for  teaching  butter-making.  Butter- 
making  was  not  a  branch  of  the  Department's  subject,  agri- 
culture, and  therefore  had  nothing  to  say  to  agriculture  in 
any  shape  or  form.  The  Department  would  not  pay  for 
the  teaching  of  botany,  as  botany  was  a  Science  subject  in 
the  Directory.  But  the  minutes  would  allow  payment  for 
the  teaching  of  horticulture,  as  of  course  it  was  plain  to  the 
meanest  intelligence  that  botany  and  horticulture  were  as 
far  asunder  as  the  Poles.  As  to  the  little  plan  about  com- 
mercial penmanship  and  accounts  the  Department  seemed 
pleased  to  find  such  a  laudable  anxiety  in  Ireland  to  master 
these  difficult  subjects.  And  when  the  school  managers  went 
a  step  further  and  called  their  new  subject  workshop 
arithmetic,  the  London  Department  seemed  quite  pleased,, 
Arithmetic  might  be  caUed  a  branch  of  mathematics  but 
workshop  arithmetic,  never. 

A  popular  gentleman,  with  a  seat  in  Parliament,  was 
placed  at  the  head  of  the  new  Irish  Technical  Department 
and  the  Irish  public  felt  that  technical  education  was 
about  to  be  developed  in  the  country,  schools  formed  and 
fostered,  and  all  the  grants  the  country  was  entitled 
to   obtained  and  administered.     But  these  hopes  were 


IRELAND  AND  SCIENCE  &  ART  DEPARTMENT  137 


doomed  to  disappointment.  The  London  Science  and  Art 
Department  probably  finding  that  Irish  schools  would 
soon  advance  sufficiently  to  secure  their  proper  share  of  the 
Equivalent  Grant,  made  up  its  mind  to  deprive  Ireland  of 
all  benefits  thereunder.  So  an  ukase  was  issued  that  in  the 
year  1904  Ireland  should  cease  to  receive  any  part  of  the 
Equivalent  Grant.  This  meant  a  serious  loss  to  Ireland. 
It  worked  out  in  this  way.  By  the  Act  of  1889  the  Science 
and  Art  Department  was  enabled  to  give  a  penny  out  of  the 
Equivalent  Grant  for  every  penny  raised  locally  for  the 
purpose  of  technical  instruction.  A  penny  in  the  £  was  the 
limit  of  taxation  under  this  Act,  Now,  a  penny  in  the  £  on 
the  entire  valuation  of  Ireland  would  bring  in  £63,000  a 
year,  so  that  /63,ooo  a  year  would  be  the  limit  of  the  amount 
which  the  Science  and  Art  Department  could  pay  each  year 
under  the  Equivalent  Grant.  Therefore,  the  discontinu- 
ance of  the  Equivalent  Grant  would  mean  a  possible  loss 
to  Ireland  of  ;^63,ooo  a  year.  To  a  school  like  Kevin  Street 
in  Dublin,  the  discontinuance  of  the  Equivalent  Grant 
would  mean  a  loss  of  from  ;^i,ooo  to  £1,500  a  year,  and  so 
on  with  other  schools  in  proportion. 

The  conduct  of  the  Science  and  Art  Department  all 
through  is  open  to  grave  comment.  First  it  blocked  the 
schools  in  Ireland  by  the  penal  clause,  and  so  prevented  Irish 
schools  from  earning  their  share  of  the  Equivalent  Grant 
since  the  passing  of  the  Technical  Instruction  Act  of  1889. 
Then  when  the  new  Irish  Department  was  formed  and 
Ireland  was  getting  under  way  to  earn  its  share  of  the 
Equivalent  Grant,  this  London  Department  deprives 
Ireland  of  the  Equivalent  Grant  at  one  blow. 

The  defence  of  the  Science  and  Art  Department  was  that 
the  Technical  Instruction  Act  of  1889,  unlike  the  Irish  Act 
of  1899,  was  an  enabling  Act  merely,  the  Treasury  being 
enabled  to  find  the  money  provided  that  the  Science  and 
Art  Department  recommended  the  grant,  and  put  it  on  the 
Estimates  each  year.  Further,  that  the  Department  had 
done  this  in  the  past,  but  that  as  Ireland  now  had  £55,000  a 
year  for  technical  education  under  the  Irish  Act  of  1899, 
the  Department  considered  that  Ireland  had  quite  enough 


138  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


money  for  the  purpose,  and  therefore  refused  to  recommend 
the  grant  beyond  the  year  1904. 

But  the  Treasury  allowed  the  Irish  Department,  which 
was  the  successor  in  title  of  the  Science  and  Art  Department, 
to  declare  that  for  every  penny  raised  locally  for  technical 
instruction  under  the  Act  of  1889  a  penny  out  of  the  Equiva- 
lent Grant  would  be  paid.  And  on  the  faith  of  that  promise 
the  Irish  people  taxed  themselves  generously.  And  having 
taxed  themselves  the  Treasury  stopped  the  grant.  That 
this  was  contrary  to  the  tacit  understanding  with  Parliament 
on  the  passing  of  the  Techincal  Instruction  Act  of  1889  is 
borne  out  by  the  fact  that  the  Treasury  through  the  Science 
and  Art  Department  paid  money  on  foot  of  the  Equivalent 
Grant  for  a  number  of  years.  This  breach  of  faith  on  the 
part  of  the  Treasury  not  only  hampered  Irish  managers  in 
their  hnancial  engagements,  but  was  seriously  calculated  to 
mar  the  future  of  technical  education  in  Ireland. 

Things  were  in  a  bad  way  when,  in  August,  1902,  the 
Cork  Technical  Congress,  under  the  able  presidency  of 
Father  Dowling  took  the  matter  up,  and  brought  it  pro- 
minently before  the  public.  In  the  following  month  a 
deputation  from  all  Ireland  waited  upon  the  Chief  Secretary 
to  put  forward  the  claims  of  the  country  to  the  Equivalent 
Grant.  There  were  about  a  hundred  of  us,  and  as  we  trooped 
into  the  Privy  Council  Chamber  we  had  the  light  hearts  of 
men  that  had  an  unanswerable  case. 

Mr.  Wyndham  received  us  with  perfect  courtesy. 
He  was  polite  and  sympathetic.  He  was  even  kind.  He 
waived  aside  facts  as  being  quite  out  of  place  between  such 
good  friends  as  the  gentlemen  of  the  deputation  and  himself, 
and  placed  the  case  on  the  high  standpoint  of  Ireland's 
needs.  He  admitted  frankly  that  Ireland  required  technical 
education  badly,  and  that  something  should  be  done.  He 
gave  us  to  understand  that  we  would  be  wise  to  leave  the 
matter  entirely  in  his  hands  and  that  he  would  do  what  he 
could  with  the  Treasury.  Indeed,  he  impressed  me  as  a 
man  who  was  anxious  to  do  good,  just  for  the  pleasure  of 
the  thing.  And  this,  I  think,  was  the  general  opinion.  So 
we  left  the  case  in  his  hands.   Well,  the  result  was  that  we 


IRELAND  AND  SCIENCE  &  ART  DEPARTMENT  139 


got  £7,000  a  year  as  a  limit  of  the  sum  to  be  earned  each 
year  under  the  Equivalent  Grant.  But  under  the  Technical 
Instruction  Act  of  i88g,  as  I  have  shown,  the  limit  should 
be  a  penny  for  every  penny  raised  by  local  taxation  which 
might  mean  anything  up  to  £63,000  a  year.  Now,  £7,000 
about  represented  what  was  captured  each  year  by  the 
Science  and  Art  Department  between  1889  and  1898,  as 
shown  by  my  last  table  above.  So  that  although  the  Chief 
Secretary  had  doubtless  the  very  best  intentions,  the  net 
result  of  the  deputation  was  that  we  only  got  back  our 
own. 

Time  rolled  by.  Our  County  Wicklow  Committee  had 
raised  large  sums  for  technical  instruction  in  the  county, 
and  we  here  in  Arklow  had,  in  addition,  contributed  gene- 
rously towards  a  prize  fund.  Mr.  Preston's  gloomy  obser- 
vations no  longer  applied,  because  we  now  had  a  system 
suitable  to  the  wants  of  the  country  and  we  were  determined 
to  avail  ourselves  of  it  to  the  full.  It  therefore  occurred  to 
me  that  we  should  try  and  earn  some  of  the  Science  and 
Art  money,  and  so  add  to  our  other  funds.  Accordingly  I 
wrote  to  the  Irish  Department  on  5th  of  November  last, 
and  received  a  reply  which  concludes  as  follows  : — 

With  regard  to  the  question  of  grants,  I  have  to  inform  you 
that  the  Administration  of  the  sums  voted  by  Pariiament  for 
Science  and  Art  instruction  in  Ireland  is  now  vested  in  the 
Department.  Grants  are  not  payable  upon  the  results  of  Local 
Science  and  Art  Examinations,  but  in  respect  of  attendances 
at  instruction  given  under  the  Regulations  at  present  in  force, 
viz.,  those  of  the  Science  and  Art  Directory  for  1901,  as  modified 
by  Circular  2  and  Form  S.  46.  The  Directory  is  now  out  of 
print,  but  copies  of  the  other  documents  are  enclosed  for  your 
information. 

This  Circular  2,  which  is  dated  August,  1901,  contains 
some  fifteen  paragraphs  which  refer  to  the  Directory  and  is 
unintelligible  without  it.  Form  S.  46  deals  with  teachers, 
principally  those  under  the  National  Board.  It  is  also 
dated  1901. 

It  would  appear  from  the  above  statement  that  no  rules 
or  regulations  can  be  had  so  as  to  enable  managers,  say  in 


140  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


Arklow,  to  form  classes  to  earn  their  share  of  the  annual 
grant  for  Science  and  Art  for  Great  Britain  and  Ireland. 
The  Irish  Department  states  that  the  regulations  at  present 
in  force  are  those  contained  in  the  London  Science  and  Art 
Directory,  and  that  that  is  out  of  print.  This  letter  suggests 
the  inquiry.  How  much  money  has  been  earned  each  year 
by  Ireland  out  of  the  grant  for  Science  and  Art  since  the 
Irish  Department  took  over  charge  on  ist  April,  1901  ? 
True,  some  of  the  classes  under  the  old  regime  may  have 
continued  on.  Probably,  too,  some  persons  with  commend- 
able foresight  may  have  seciired  copies  of  the  Science  and 
Art  Directory  for  1901  before  it  went  out  of  print,  and  formed 
classes  accordingly,  but  I  fear  that  Ireland  as  a  whole  has 
earned  less  of  this  Science  and  Art  Grant  under  the  new 
Irish  Department  than  under  the  old  London  one.  And 
this  in  truth  was  smaU  enough.  The  question  then  comes: 
Has  the  Irish  Department,  since  ist  April,  1901,  done 
everything  in  its  power  to  enable  Ireland  to  earn  its 
full  share  of  this  Science  and  Art  Grant  ?  If  so,  where 
are  the  regulations  of  the  Department  governing  the 
matter  ?  For,  if  the  Department  in  1901  had  power  to 
modify  the  Science  and  Art  Regulations  it  had  power  to 
draft  a  new  set  of  regulations  for  Ireland,  or  else  the  above 
letter  is  open  to  explanation. 

In  July,  1898,  Sir  John  Gorst,  Minister  of  Education, 
said  that  as  soon  as  we  got  our  Irish  Department,  Ireland's 
share  of  the  Science  and  Art  Grant  would  be  handed  over 
to  that  Department  to  be  administered  by  it  for  Ireland, 
as  is  done  by  the  Scotch  Department  for  Scotland.  Yet 
here  we  are  five  years  after  that  date,  and  the  story  is  South 
Kensington  and  its  Directory  still.  Why  does  Scotland  get 
facilities  that  are  denied  to  Ireland  ?  Simply  because  the 
people  of  Scotland  insist  and  have  always  insisted  upon  their 
rights  in  the  matter  of  education.  But  what  are  we  to  expect 
while  we  allow  ourselves  to  be  dragged  at  the  tail  of  an 
English  Department  ?  Imagine  !  Ireland's  progress  in 
Science  and  Art  is  to  be  hampered,  I  may  say  blocked, 
because,  forsooth,  the  Directory  of  the  English  Science  and 
Art  Department  has  gone  out  of  print  ! 


IRELAND  AND  SCIENCE  &  ART  DEPARTMENT  141 


How  long  is  this  state  of  things  to  continue  ?  For 
continue  it  will  until  Ireland  gets  a  separate  Grant  for 
Science  and  Art,  and  the  Irish  Department  made  wholly 
responsible  for  its  administration.  The  opportunity  is  at 
hand.  WiU  our  Parliamentary  representatives  avail  them- 
selves of  it  ?  Or,  are  we  for  ever  to  be  harassed  by  South 
Kensington,  '  the  most  costly,  the  most  wasteful,  and  the 
most  stupid  of  our  educational  shams  '  ? 

George  F.  Fleming,  Solicitor. 


I 


[     142  ] 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  SCAPULAR 

■  '  {From  Original  Sources.) 

THE  WINCHESTER  MIRACLE 

IN  a  previous  article'  we  traced  the  establishment  of 
the  Carmelite  Order  in  England  from  its  first  arrival 
on  these  shores  to  the  violent  persecution  it  encoun- 
tered at  the  hands  of  the  secular  clergy,  that  is,  through  a 
period  of  about  twenty  years  ;  and  with  the  help  of  un- 
impeachable documents,  chiefly  Papal  Bulls,  we  have 
analysed  its  successes  and  its  misfortunes.  The  latter,  ves- 
tiges of  which  date  back  to  the  first  decade  of  the  settlement 
of  the  Carmelites  in  Europe,  took  an  acute  form  about  the 
year  1256,  and  were  only  dispelled  after  six  years  or  more 
of  severe  siiffering  from  without  and  profound  discourage- 
ment from  within.  During  this  period  an  event  happened 
which  gave  rise  to  the  devotion  to  the  scapular,  for,  when 
things  were  at  their  worst,  Our  Lady  appeared  to  St.  Simon 
Stock,  General  of  the  Order,  promising  that  whosoever 
should  die  in  the  Carmelite  habit  should  not  suffer  eternal 
fire,  and  advising  him  to  address  himself  to  the  Pope  in 
order  to  obtain  a  remedy  for  his  grievances.  The  date  of 
this  vision  is  given  by  the  chief  document,  a  narrative  of 
the  vision  from  the  pen  of  the  Saint's  secretary  and  con- 
fidential companion,  Peter  Swanyngton,  as  1251,  but  we 
have  shown  reasons  for  placing  it  some  ten  years  later. 
The  continuation  of  Swanyngton's  account  marks  an 


1  See  the  I.  E.  Record  for  May,  1901.  Circumstances  over  wtiich  we  had 
no  control  have  caused  a  long  delay  in  the  publication  of  this  and  the  article 
to  follow,  but  in  the  meantime  many  facts  have  come  to  our  knowledge  which 
throw  most  welcome  light  on  this  intricate  matter.  In  one  point  our  former 
results  have  undergone  a  slight  modification,  as  will  be  seen  later  on.  It  is 
only  fair  to  mention  that  a  writer  in  the  (now  extinct)  Weekly  Register  has 
pointed  out  that  four  lines  quoted  from  Piers  flic  Plougltman  on  the  '  lace  of 
our  Lady  smok'  refer,  not  to  the  Scapular  as  we  assumed,  but  to  the  '  Girdle 
of  Our  Lady,'  and  were,  therefore,  wide  of  the  mark.  This  mistake,  however, 
in  no  way  affects  our  argument. 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  SCAPULAR 


important  stage  in  the  liistory  of  the  scapular.  This  is 
what  he  says  : — 

On  the  seventeenth  of  the  Kalends  of  August,^  while  the 
aforesaid  Blessed  Simon  was  on  his  way  to  Winchester  being 
accompanied  by  me,  in  order  to  obtain  letters  of  introduction 
to  Pope  Innocent  IV.  from  the  Bishop  of  Winchester  who  was 
favourably  disposed  towards  our  Order,  Peter  de  Linton  (Lhyn- 
tonia)  dean  of  St.  Helen's  at  Winchester,  met  us  in  great  haste'* 
beseeching  the  Blessed  Father  to  come  quickly  to  the  help  of 
his  brother  who  was  in  a  state  of  despair  and  at  the  point  of 
death.  His  name  was  Walter  ;  he  was  a  man  shamefully  given 
to  the  pursuit  of  sin,  quarrelsome,  practising  the  art  of  a  magician, 
contemning  the  Sacraments,  and  molesting  his  neighbour. 
WTiilst  fighting  with  another  nobleman  he  was  mortally  wounded, 
and  seeing  himself  about  to  appear  before  the  judgment  seat  of 
God  (the  devil  placing  before  his  eyes  the  heinousness  of  his 
sins),  he  would  not  so  much  as  hear  of  God  and  the  Sacraments, 
but  as  long  as  his  speech  remained  he  shouted  and  blasphemed  : 
'  I  am  damned ;  revenge  me,  Satan,  of  my  assassin.'  Arriving 
at  the  house  we  found  him  foaming,  gnashing  his  teeth,  and 
rolling  his  eyes  like  a  mad  dog,  apparently  at  the  point  of  death 
and  unconscious.  Whereupon  Blessed  Simon  making  the  sign 
of  the  Cross,  threw  his  habit  over  the  sick  man,  and  lifting  up 
his  eyes  to  heaven,  asked  forgiveness  for  him,  saying  :  '  Allow 
not,  oh  God,  one  who  has  been  redeeemd  by  Christ,  to  become 
a  prey  of  the  devil.'  And  suddenly  he  who  was  thought  to  be 
dying  grew  stronger  again,  and  calmly  signing  himself  and  re- 
gaining the  power  of  speech,  repelled  the  attacks  of  the  demons, 
saying  with  a  tearful  voice  :  '  O  how  miserable  am  I  !  How  I 
tremble  to  be  eternally  lost !  My  iniquities  are  more  numerous 
than  the  sands  of  the  sea-shore.  Have  mercy  on  me,  O  God, 
for  Thy  mercy  surpasseth  Thy  justice.  Help  me,  Father,  for  I 
wish  to  make  my  confession.'    Retiring  into  a  corner  Dean 


"  It  appears  to  us  that  the  words  :  '  On  the  seventeenth  of  the  Kalends  of 
August '  belong,  not  to  what  follows,  but  to  what  precedes,  '  The  day  after  the 
Division  of  the  Apostles,'  i.e.  the  16th  of  July.  If  on  that  day  St.  Simon  was 
at  Cambridge  he  could  not  get  anywhere  near  Winchester,  and  to  suppose 
that  this  incident  took  place  a  year  later  would  be  absurd,  seeing  the  impor- 
tance of  his  interview  with  the  bishop.  We  shall  see  that  the  Winchester 
miracle  must  have  taken  place  towards  the  end  of  September.  The  feast  of 
the  Division  of  the  Apostles  was  not  kept  by  the  Carmelites  until  a  much  later 
period,  for  it  does  not  appear  in  the  official  Ordinale  of  1315,  nor  in  the  English 
Carmelite  Calendars,  the  Oxford  Breviary  or  the  Kilcormic  Missal.  On  the 
Continent,  however,  it  appears  in  the  Bruges  Obituary  of  1340,  and  also  in  all 
the  printed  missals  and  brevaries  from  1480  till  1579.  Was  the  feast  observed 
in  the  English  secular  churches?  It  certainly  appeared  in  the  martyrology  in 
the  first  place. 

'  Celeri  vectura. 


144  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


Peter  told  me  how,  seeing  the  impenitent  heart  of  his  brother 
and  praying  for  him  in  soUtude,  he  heard  a  voice  saying  :  '  Arise 
Peter,  and  seek  my  servant  Simon  who  is  on  his  way  hither.' 
Looking  round  to  know  whence  came  this  voice  he  could  see  no 
one,  but  again  and  again  the  words  were  repeated.  Whereupon, 
taking  them  for  a  heavenly  message,  he  mounted  his  horse  to 
meet  the  venerable  Father,  and  now  he  could  not  thank  God 
enough  for  having  found  him  so  speedily. 

After  his  confession  Walter  publicly  renounced  all  dealings 
with  the  devil,  received  the  last  Sacraments  with  many  signs  of 
repentance,  made  his  last  will,  and  asked  his  brother  the  Dean 
to  assure  him  on  oath  that  he  would  make  ample  satisfaction 
for  all  the  injustice  of  which  he,  Walter,  had  been  guilty,  and 
about  the  eighth  hour  of  the  night  he  peacefully  breathed  forth 
his  soul.  The  Dean  had  still  some  misgivings  as  to  the  salvation 
of  his  brother  but  the  latter  appearing  to  him  assured  him  that 
all  was  well  through  the  powerful  intercession  of  the  Queen  of 
Angels,  who  had  preserved  him  against  the  assaults  of  the  Evil 
One  with  the  habit  of  the  Blessed  Father  as  a  shield. 

The  news  of  this  event  spread  through  the  whole  town. 
Peter  de  Linton  informed  the  venerable  Bishop  of  Winchester 
wishing  to  have  his  opinion  on  so  unusual  a  matter.  The  bishop 
was  much  surprised,  and,  after  taking  counsel  with  his  household, 
decided  upon  questioning  Blessed  Simon  as  to  the  virtue  of  his 
habit.  He  appeared  before  the  bishop  and  gave  a  full  account 
in  writing,  signed  and  sealed.  The  aforesaid  Peter  in  thanks- 
giving for  the  miracle  wrought  by  the  most  glorious  Virgin  Mary 
on  behalf  of  his  brother,  made  a  foundation  for  the  friars  at 
Winchester,  giving  them  some  land  as  well  as  building  for  them 
a  very  commodious  and  fairly  large  convent.  When  these  facts 
became  known  in  England  and  abroad  many  towns  offered  places 
for  our  habitation,  and  ^numerons'} grandees  desired  to  be  affili- 
ated to  our  Order,  so  that  they  might  participate  in  its  blessings 
and  die  in  the  holy  habit  and  thus,  through  the  merits  of  the 
glorious  Virgin  Mary,  end  their  lives  by  a  happy  death.  In 
this  way,  by  the  help  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  His  Mother 
Mary,  the  Order  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  of  Mount  Carmel  began 
to  spread  in  the  Western  parts,  there  being  many  provinces, 
in  each  province  many  houses,  and  in  each  house  a  sufficient 
number  of  able  men  bringing  ample  fruit  to  the  increase  of  the 
Catholic  Faith.' 

It  will  be  remembered  that  Our  Blessed  Lady  appearing 
to  St.  Simon  Stock  at  Cambridge,  promised  that  those  who 


*  Daniel  a  Virgine  Maria,  Speculum  Carmelitanum.  Antwerp,  1680, 
Vol.  i.,  p.  519- 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  SCAPULAR 


die  in  the  habit  of  the  Order  should  not  suffer  eternal  fire, 
thus  allaying  the  discouragement  which  the  brethren  had 
experienced  on  account  of  the  opposition  they  had  encoun- 
tered from  various  quarters.  And  further,  she  advised  him 
to  send  a  message  to  the  Pope,  who,  as  she  promised,  would 
provide  a  remedy  against  the  grievances.  Thereupon, 
Swanyngton  tells  us,  St.  Simon  Stock  went  to  Winchester 
in  order  to  obtais  letters  of  introduction  {litterae  jormatae) 
to  the  Pope  from  the  bishop  whom  he  knew  to  be  favourably 
disposed  towards  the  Order.  Cambridge  belongs  to  the 
diocese  of  Ely,  but  it  was  neither  the  Bishop  of  Ely  nor  of 
one  of  the  neighbouring  dioceses,  Norwich  or  London,  but 
the  distant  prelate  of  Winchester  from  whom  he  expected 
a  powerful  introduction.  It  is  important  for  us  to  know 
who  this  bishop  was.  The  see  of  Winchester  having 
become  vacant  in  1250,  the  king  sent  word  to  the  chapter 
of  St.  Swithin's  that  he  would  assist  in  person  at  the 
coming  election  ;  accordingly  he  hastened  to  Winchester 
and  having  assembled  the  monks,  gave  them  in  unmistak- 
able language  to  understand  that  they  were  to  elect  his 
half-brother,  Ademar  de  Lezignan,  to  the  vacant  see. 
This  young  man,  the  fourth  son  of  Isabelle,  relict  of  King 
John  by  her  second  husband,  Hugh,  Earl  of  March,  had 
been  studying  in  Paris  until  the  death  of  his  parents  when 
he  came  to  England  to  make  his  fortune  ;  Henry  HI. 
received  him  with  open  arms  and  bestowed  ecclesiastical 
benefices  upon  him  until  his  revenues  equalled  those  of  the 
king  himself.  Twice  already  had  Henry  endeavoured  to 
secure  a  bishopric  for  his  brother,  but  in  vain,  when  at 
length  Winchester,  the  richest  see  in  England  and  one  of 
the  richest  in  Christendom,  fell  vacant,  and  the  king  made 
up  his  mind  not  to  be  baulked  again. 

The  monks  of  St.  Swithin  moved,  not  so  much  by  the 
royal  threats  as  by  the  knowledge  that  they  would  not  be 
upheld  by  the  Pope  in  their  resistance,  proceeded,  however 
reluctantly,  to  the  election  of  the  young  man  of  twenty- 
three  in  Minor  orders,  and  the  Pope  confirmed  their  choice. 
But  they  soon  found  out  that  their  worst  fears  ^were  only 

VOL.  XV.  K 


146  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


too  well  justified,  for  Ademar  proved,  totally  unfit  for  his 
dignity.  He  took  no  interest  in  ecclesiastical  matters 
beyond  quarrelling  with  his  chapter  and  squandering  his 
princely  revenues  ;  his  chief  occupations  were  politics  and 
hunting,  and  his  life  was  distinctly  disedifying,  until  at 
length  matters  came  to  a  climax  and  the  barons  left  him 
the  alternative  of  prison  or  exile  (1258).  He  chose  the 
latter  and  the  monks  proceeded  to  a  new  election  which, 
however,  was  set  aside  as  soon  as  it  became  known  that 
Ademar  had  at  last  consented  to  be  consecrated,  for  hitherto 
he  had  only  been  acolyte.  But  when  returning  to 
England  against  the  will  of  the  king,  he  was  overtaken  by 
death  in  Paris,  4  December,  1260.  The  next  election  to 
the  bishopric  of  Winchester  having  been  cancelled  by  the 
Pope  on  account  of  a  canonical  impediment  on  the  part  of 
the  nominee,  the  Pope  appointed  John  of  Exeter,  Chan- 
cellor of  York  (11  July,  1262),  who  was  at  once  consecrated 
and  took  possession  of  his  see  in  the  autumn  of  the  same 
year.  He  must,  indeed,  have  been  persona  grata  with  the 
Pope  to  be  promoted  by  him  motu  propria  to  one  of  the 
most  enviable  bishoprics  of  the  whole  world.  On  the  other 
hand,  St.  Simon  Stock  must  have  known  him  personally, 
for  John  of  Exeter  was,  as  we  have  said,  Chancellor  of 
York  when  St.  Simon  founded  a  Carmelite  friary  in  the 
Northern  metropolis  (1255).  He  could,  therefore,  know  by 
experience  whether  the  new  Bishop  of  Winchester  was 
favourably  disposed  towards  the  Order  or  not.  The  ques- 
tion then  arises  to  which  of  the  two  prelates  St.  Simon  went 
all  the  way  to  Winchester  to  ask  for  introductions  to  the 
Pope  ;  it  ought  to  be  clear  to  the  most  casual  observer  that 
it  could  not  but  have  been  the  latter.  This  is  a  further 
proof  that  St.  Simon's  vision  could  not  have  taken  place  in 
1251  but  considerably  later,  namely,  on  the  i6th  of  July, 
1262,  and  that  the  saint's  journey  to  Winchester  fell  in  the 
early  autumn  of  the  same  year,  soon  after  the  bishop's 
return  from  the  Papal  court. 

As  to  the  Dean  of  St.  Helen's,  Peter  de  Linton,  we  have 
no  further  mention.    There  never  has  been  a  church  of 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  SCAPULAR  147 


this  name  at  Winchester,  but  there  existed,  in  the  diocese 
of  Winchester,  a  small  alien  priory  dependent  upon  Cluny, 
and  situated  in  St.  Helen's,  Isle  of  Wight.    Of  this  priory 
Peter  must  have  been  dean  or  Provost  as  he  is  sometimes 
called.    The  priory  was  suppressed  in  the  middle  of  the 
fifteenth  century,  its  revenues  being  handed  over  to  the 
newly  founded  school  of  St.  Mary's,  Eton,  but  unfortunately 
its  archives  have  disappeared  ;  at  least  enquiries  concerning 
them  have  led  to  no  result.    According  to  Swanyngton, 
Dean  Peter  proved  his  gratitude  by  making  a  Carmelite 
foundation  at  Winchester.    Although  the  exact  date  of  the 
foundation  cannot  be  ascertained,  it  must  have  taken  place 
between  1273  and  1278.    But  it  is  highly  improbable  that 
the  dean  waited  such  a  long  time.    The  first  establishment 
may  have  taken  place  somewhere  else  ;  in  fact  we  possess 
a  notice  to  the  effect  that  at  one  time  a  convent  was  founded 
at  Newport,  Isle  of  Wight,  but  that  the  inroads  of  the  sea 
compelled    the    brethren    to    transfer   their  habitation 
elsewhere.'^     Again,  a  Papal  Bull  of  6th  October,  1268, 
informs  us   that  there  existed  at  that  time  a  Carmelite 
convent  at  Birdport,  Co.  Dorset,  but  that  the  bishop  and 
chapter  of  Salisbury  disputed  the  right  of  the  brethren  to 
celebrate  Divine  service.    This  convent  was  then  '  about 
seven  years  old ,'  which  would  very  nearly  harmonise 
with  the  date  assigned  by  us  to  the  Winchester  incident. 
Since  it  is  not  further  mentioned,  we  conclude  that  the 
quarrel  could  not  have  been  amicably  settled,  and  that  the 
Carmelites  had  to  go  elsewhere.    It  is,  to  say  the  least, 
possible  that  one  or  other  of  these  attempted  foundations 
had  been  made  by  Peter  de  Linton,  and  that,  so  far  from 
being  discouraged  by  failure,  he  had  transferred  the  convent 
in  1273  or  thereabouts  to  Winchester. 

In  his  last  paragraph  Swanyngton  speaks  of  the  mar- 
vellous development  of  the  Order  in  consequence  of  the 
Winchester  miracle.  Here  we  are  again  upon  strictly 
historical  ground,  but  the  evidence  is  once  more  entirely 


«  MS.  Cotton,  Titus  D.  X.,  p.  128. 


14^  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


in  favour  of  1262  as  the  date  of  the  famous  vision  instead 
of  1251.    For  we  find  only  three  foundations  to  have  been 
made  in  the  course  of  sixteen  years  counting  from  1261, 
namely,  Oxford,  York,  and  Norwich,  which  certainly  does 
not  agree  with  Swanjmgton's  boast  that  '  many  cities  offered 
us  places  for  our  habitation,'  and  that  '  provinces  were 
multiplied,  each  of  which  comprised  many  houses.'  But, 
taking  1262  as  the  date  of  the  vision,  his  words  are  fully 
justified  by  the  events ;  for,  between  1267  and  1305  (when 
he  wrote)  scarcely  a  year  passed  without  a  foundation  on 
English  soil :  Bristol,  Winchester,  Lynne,  Lincoln,  Berwick, 
Newcastle,  Northampton,  Nottingham,  Sandwich,  Glou- 
cester, Stamford,  Yarmouth,  Ipswich,  Chester,  Appleby, 
Kingston-upon-HuU,     Pontefract,     Maldon,  Plymouth, 
Boston,  Sutton-in-Holderness  (?),  and  New  Shoreham.  To 
these  might  be  added  some  abortive  foundations,  namely, 
beside  the  two  already  mentioned,  Ruthin,  Cardiff,  Coventry, 
etc.,  and  of  course  about  a  dozen  flourishing  houses  in 
Ireland  and  half  that  number  in  Scotland.    As  to  the 
multiplication  of  provinces,  Swanyngton  cannot  liave  for- 
gotten that  the  separation  of  the  Scotch  and  Irish  houses 
from  the  Englisli  province  was  the  cause  of  his  writing 
his  account  at  Bordeaux  instead  of  Oxford  or  Burnham- 
Norton.^ 

THE  AUTHENTICITY  OF  SWANYNGTON's  REPORT 

Much,  but  not  everything,  depends  upon  the  question 
whether  Swanyngton's  report  is  autlientic  or  not.  If  not, 
we  still  have  almost  contemporary  evidence  in  the  account 
given  by  Sibert  de  Beka  or  St.  Simon's  vision,'  and  in  an 


"  We  have  assumed  that  Swayngton  is  principally  concerned  with  the 
'  persecution  '  of  the  Order  in  England,  since  the  remedy  was  also  given 
there  and  he  refers  chiefly  to  England  when  speaking  of  the  development 
following  upon  the  Winchester  miracle.  But  a  similar  state  of  affairs  prevailed 
elsewhere,  notably  in  France,  as  may  be  seen  fi'om  the  history  of  Bordeaux 
(see  liibadieu,  Revue  Catlioliqtic  de  Bordeaux,  1884,  and  Gallia  Christiana, 
edition  of  1720,  vol.  ii. ,  p.  825).  It  should  also  be  noted  that  the  period  of 
'persecution'  from  1256  to  1264,  coincides  with  the  anti-Mendicant  movement 
inaugurated  by  William  de  St.  Amour. 

'  MS.  Harley  3,838  {BaXe' s  HcUades)  chap,  xviii. 


THE  ORIGIN  OE  THE  SCAPULAR  149 


extract  from  a  writing  of  William  de  Coventry,'  not  to 
mention  numerous  later  authors.  But,  if  it  can  be  proved 
authentic.  Swanyngton's  narrative  will  be  found  doubly 
valuable  as  being  that  of  an  eye-witness,  whereas  the  other 
writers  only  transmit  what  they  have  heard  at  second  or 
third-hand.  It  is  our  firm  conviction  that  both  external 
and  internal  evidence  is  absolutely  in  favour  of  the  authen- 
ticitj'^  and  that  no  reasonable  ground  to  the  contrary  can 
be  alleged,  unless  one  wish  to  deny  all  supernatural  inter- 
vention in  human  affairs. 

And  first  as  to  the  history  of  tlie  manuscript.  Swanyng- 
ton  was  about  seventy  years  old  when,  in  1305,  he  was  sent 
to  Bordeaux  by  way  of  punishment.  What  became  of  liim 
afterwards  we  do  not  know  ;  in  all  probability  he  died  there. 
During  this,  his  second  residence  in  that  town,  he  wrote  a 
Life  of  St.  Simon  Stock,  from  which  the  two  chapters  trans- 
lated by  us  have  been  taken.  For  he  could  not  have  written 
the  last  paragraph  during  his  first  visit  which  lasted  from 
1265  until  about  1270.  The  Life  does  not  appear  to  have 
been  much  read,  for  it  has  never  been  quoted  nor  so  much 
as  mentioned,  and  it  is  possible  that  the  very  quality  which 
went  to  make  Swanyngton  an  excellent  historian,  namely, 
his  sobriety  and  jiidgment,  may  have  proved  less  agreeable 
to  his  contemporaries  than  the  high-flown  language  of  a 
Sibert,  or  a  William  de  Coventry,  etc.  In  1570  a  terrible 
outbreak  of  the  plague  ravaged  Bordeaux  and  carried  away 
the  entire  Carmelite  community.  After  that,  the  convent 
was  for  a  time  under  the  guardianship  of  the  civic  autho- 
rities until  a  number  of  religious  from  some  other  convent 
were  ready  to  take  the  place  of  those  who  had  succumbed 
to  the  plague.  Before  their  arrival  the  town  council  were 
kind  enough  to  have  the  convent  thoroughly  cleansed  and 
disinfected,  on  which  occasion  a  literary  outrage  took  place 
which  is  almost  unequalled  in  the  history  of  libraries  ;  parch- 
ments and  books  were  torn  from  their  shelves,  and  thrown 
into  the  fire  lest  they  should  spread  infection  !   How  much 


s  See  Daniel,  I.e.,  vol.  i.,  p,  521. 


ISO  THE  IRISH  ECLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


or  how  little  escaped  this  well  meant  act  of  vandalism  it  is 
impossible  to  say,  but  Swanyngton's  Life  of  St.  Simon  Stock 
was  saved  from  the  wreckage.  When,  in  1640  or  there- 
abouts, the  then  prior  of  Bordeaux,  John  Cheron,  undertook 
to  answer  Launoy's  attacks  against  St.  Simon  and  the 
scapular,  he  had  before  him  and  was  able  to  quote,  Swanyng- 
ton's work  ;  and  his  book,  Privilegii  Scapularis  et  Visionis 
S.  Simonis  Stock  Vindiciae,  which  appeared  at  Bordeaux  in 
1642,  is  the  editio  princeps  of  our  two  chapters  from  which 
all  later  editors  have  copied.  We  can  hardly  blame  Cheron 
for  not  having  inserted  the  entire  text  of  Swanyngton  as 
the  occasion  did  not  demand  it,  but  it  is  a  matter  for  deep 
regret  that  he  did  not  publish  it  at  some  other  time.  After 
1650  he  contributed  some  important  chapters  to  Lezana's 
fourth  volume  of  the  Carmelite  Annals  which  appeared  in 
1656,  but  Swanyngton's  Life  of  St.  Simon,  which  would  have 
found  its  proper  place  there,  was  not  among  them.  It  is 
possible  that  he  reserved  its  publication  to  himself  and  this 
need  hardly  surprise  us  seeing  that,  notwithstanding  many 
excellent  qualities,  he  suffered  from  a  narrowness  of  mind 
which  caused  great  discomfort  to  his  province  and  dis- 
edification  to  the  faithful,  besides  embittering  many  years  of 
of  his  own  life.  In  1663  he  was  instrumental  in  translating 
the  relics  of  St.  Simon  Stock  to  a  noble  shrine,  and  in  1671, 
two  years  before  his  death,  he  was  on  a  committee  to  enquire 
into  the  cult  and  miracles  of  the  saint.  On  one  or  other  of 
these  occasions  he  appears  to  have  written  a  Life  of  St, 
Simon  which,  however,  has  never  been  published  and  no 
longer  exists  in  manuscritpt.'" 

What  became  of  Swanyngton's  book  after  Cheron's 
death  ?  We  cannot  answer  this  question  with  any  degree 
of  certainty,  but  there  is  no  reason  for  presuming  that  it 
disappeared  from  the  convent  where  Cheron  left  it,  either  at 


9  Daniel,  I.e.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  437. 

10  '  Alors  aussi,  selon  toute  probabilite,  le  P.  Charon  publia  une  Vie  de  S. 
Simon  Stock  qui  est  in  8vo  mais  que  je  n'ai  pu  decouvrir  et  qui  est  restee 
inconnue  au  P.  Cosme  de  VilHers.'  Lantenayt  in  the  Revue  Catholiqiie  de 
Bordeaux,  1884,  in  a  most  ini.jresting  biographical  sketch  of  this  remarkable 
man. 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  SCAPULAR 


151 


Bordeaux,  Lectoure,  or  Langon.  Searching  enquiries  made 
by  the  present  writer  in  a  number  of  French  Hbraries  and 
Departmental  archives  have  yielded  no  result,  yet  it  is 
quite  possible  that  it  is  still  extant.  The  contents  of  the 
archives  of  our  convents  at  the  time  of  the  Revolution  were 
packed  in  boxes  and  deposited  in  the  public  archives,  and 
to  our  certain  knowledge  those  of  the  Gironde  possess  at 
the  present  day  as  many  as  twenty  boxes  of  documents 
taken  from  the  various  Carmelite  houses  which  have  never 
been  opened,  much  less  searched  and  calendered.  It  would 
be  rash  to  affirm  that  Swanyngton's  manuscript  is  hidden 
there  and  will  one  day  come  to  light,  but  it  would  also  be 
premature  to  bemoan  its  loss. 

Internal  evidence  is  not  less  in  favour  of  authenticity. 
The  Life  must  have  borne  the  name  of  its  author,  for  Cheron 
could  know  nothing  about  him  beyond  the  scanty  notices 
published  by  Trithemius  who  was  ignorant  of  his  acquaint- 
ance with  St.  Simon  Stock  ;  as  to  the  trouble  that  befell 
Swanyngton  towards  the  end  of  his  life,  neither  Trithemius 
nor  Cheron  knew  anything  about  it.  Comparing  his  account 
of  Our  Lady's  promises  with  those  given  by  Sibert,  William 
de  Coventy,  and  later  writers,  there  can  be  no  question  as 
to  the  superiority  of  Swanyngton's  version.  He  clearly 
distinguishes  what  he  has  learnt  from  St.  Simon  from  what 
he  has  seen  himself  ;  he  has  a  keen  perception  of  cause  and 
effect,  and  above  aU  he  keeps  strictly  to  what  is  possible 
and  probable.  Take,  for  instance,  his  assertion  that  Our 
Lady  appeared  to  St.  Simon  holding  the  habit  of  the  Order, 
and  compare  it  with  later  writers  according  to  whom  she 
brought  a  scapular  ready  made  from  heaven,  which  the 
saint  received  from  her  hands,  put  on  himself,  and  used  as 
pattern  for  similar  ones  to  be  distributed  to  the  brethren. 
Compare  also  her  dignified  words  in  Swanyngton's  report 
with  the  flowery  speech  Sibert  attributes  to  her.  Through- 
out the  two  chapters  there  is  a  ring  of  conviction,  or 
earnestness,  and  of  simplicity,  which  contrasts  favourably 
with  other  reports. 

In  one  point,  however,  we  have  found  Swanyngton  at 


152  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


fault,  and  we  acknowledge  that  our  first  impression  was 
that  his  writing  must  have  been  tampered  wnth.    He  assigns 
the  year  1251  to  the  vision  whereas  three  incidents  allowing 
of  further  investigation  point  to  a  later  date,  namely,  1262. 
That  the  former  date  is  impossible  has  been  demonstrated 
in  our  first  article,  but  it  is  also  clear  that  it  was  not  due 
to  a  clerical  error,  since  it  harmonises  with  a  Bull  transcribed 
by  another  contemporary  writer,  William  of  Sandwich, 
bearing  the  date  13th  January,  1252.    This  Bull  we  at  first 
considered  spurious,  partly  because  the  Bullarium  of  the 
Order  knows  nothing  of  it,  and  partly  because  it  is  identical 
with  another,  of  Clement  IV.,  of  31st  October,  1265.  Since 
writing  that  article  we  have,  however,  discovered  that  so 
far  from  being  suppositious  the  Bull  is  perfectly  genuine, 
since  it  occurs  in  its  proper  place  in  the  Register  of  Innocent 
IV."    This  fact  at  once  supplies  the  key  to  the  whole  riddle. 
That  the  Bull  remained  ineffective  or  at  least  did  not  fulfil 
its  whole  purpose,  is  obvious  from  the  fact  that  only  a  few 
years  after  its  issue  the  '  persecution  '  broke  out  on  a  larger 
scale  and  worse  than  ever,  and  that  this  very  Bull  had  to  be 
repeated  by  a  later  Pope.  On  the  other  hand,  Swanyngton, 
writing  as  he  did  half  a  century  after  the  events  and  in 
advanced  age,  may  weU  be  pardoned  for  having  mistaken 
the  one  for  the  other.    He  knew  that  this  particular  Bull 
put  an  end  to  the  persecution,  but  he  mistook  its  first  issue 
for  the  second.    And  this  all  the  more  easily  that  in  its 
first  edition  it  bore  the  revered  name  of  Innocent  IV.,  who, 
on  account  of  the  approbation  granted  to  the  Rule  and  the 
numerous  benefits  bestowed  upon  the  Order,  was  always 
considered  the  great  protector  of  the  Carmelites.'^    It  may 
be  added  that  other  historians  of  the  Order,  such  as  Philip 
of  the  Blessed  Trinity,^'  have  questioned  the  date  of  St. 
Simon's  vision,  though  we  do  not  know  on  what  particular 
grounds.      That  there  must  be  a  mistake  somewhere  is 


"  No.  5,563  in  Elie  Berger's  edition. 

"  Thcologia  Carmelitana,  Rome,  1665,  pp.  334  and  3S7.  In  both  places 
he  says  distinctly  1261,  and  to  show  there  is  no  misprint,  he  adds :  '  In  the 
first  year  of  Urban  IV.,  i.e.,  four  years  before  St.  Simon's  death.' 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  SCAPULAR 


153 


certain,  for,  if  once  we  allow  1251  as  the  real  date,  we  come 
to  the  conclusion  that  no  sooner  had  Our  Lady  promised  a 
remedy  against  all  troubles  from  without  and  a  privilege  for 
the  brethren  to  quell  their  own  discontent,  than  these 
troubles  began  to  break  out  and  discontent  to  fill  their 
hearts,  with  the  result  that  not  only  was  the  development 
of  the  Order  entirely  paralysed  for  sixteen  years,  but  in- 
terior disorganisation  threatended  its  very  existence.  More- 
over, the  events  of  Swanyngton's  own  life  render  it  doubtful 
that  at  this  early  date  he  could  have  acted  as  St.  Simon's 
companion  and  secretary,  and  the  Winchester  miracle 
becomes  unintelligible  since  the  saint  can  have  had  no 
inducement  to  approach  a  prelate  of  the  stamp  of  Ademar. 
Our  conclusion  is,  therefore,  that  Swanyngton's  report  must 
be  accepted  as  fully  authentic,  that  both  external  and 
internal  evidence  are  in  its  favour,  and  that  the  only 
exception  that  could  be  taken  to  it  admits  of  a  simple  and 
efficacious  explanation. 

Benedict  Zimmerman,  o.c.d. 

t 

(  To  be  continued.^ 


[    154  ] 


.  Botes  anb  Oiueries 

LITURGY 

deob.  s.b.c.  '  vabia  dubia  ;  deck.  s.c.  ind.  ■  ampiilatio 
faoultatis  epis.  indxjlgentias  imp!  btiendi ' 

s.  r.  congregationis  decreta 
Ordinis  Minorum  Provinciae  Angliae 

R.  p.  Thaddaeus  Hermans,  Kalendarista  Provinciae  Angliae 
Ordinis  Minorum,  de  consensu  sui  Rmi.  Procuratoris  Generalis, 
a  S.  R.  C.  solutionem  sequentium  dubiorum  humillime  postulavit 
ni  minim  : 

1.  An  commemoratio  festi  simplicis  primarii  debeat  prae- 
cedere  commemorationem  festi  simplicis  secundarii,  ita  ut  in 
festo  duplici  S.  Romualdi  Ab.,  quod  die  15  Febr.  repositum 
colitur,  prius  commemorari  oporteat  festum  natale  Ss.  Faustini 
et  lovitae  Mm.,  quam  Translationem  S.  Antonii  Patavini  ? 

2.  An  festa  Dedicationis  Basilicarum  Assisiensium,  de  Por- 
tiuncula  nempe  atque  de  S.  Francisco,  quae  a  Benedicto  XIII 
uti  Matrices  et  Capita  ecclesiarum  Ordinis  Seraphici  declarantur, 
uti  festa  primaria  debeant  in  universo  Fratrum  Minorum  Ordine 
haberi,  quemadmodum  sunt  in  universo  Orbe  Dedicationes 
Basilicarum  Urbis  ? 

3.  An  sub  die  5  lulii  Commemoratio  octavae  Ss.  App.  Petri 
et  Pauli,  etiam  in  ecclesiis  consecratis,  anteponenda  sit  com- 
memorationi  diei  infra  octavam  Dedicationis  omnium  ecclesi- 
arum Ordinis  Seraphici,  quamvis  in  Breviario  Romano-Seraphico 
contrarium  hucusque  ordinetur  ? 

4.  An  festum  gaudens  octava,  si  dies  libera  infra  octavam 
occurrit,  in  repositione  praeferatur  festo  altioris  ritus  vel  digni- 
tatis, quod  octavam  non  habet  ? 

5.  An  in  festo  Translationis  S.  Francisci  atque  Inventionis 
S.  Clarae,  silente  Breviario  Romano-Seraphico,  hymni  proprii, 
qui  sunt  ordine  historico  exarati,  debeant  in  casu  impedimenti 
transponi,  vel  pro  casuum  diversitate  coniungi  ? 

6.  An  die  octava  S.  Thomae  Cantuariensis  legi  possint  in 


NOTES  AND  QUERIES 


155 


III  Noctumo  Lectiones  Homiliae  Audistis,  ut  in  Dom.  II  post 
Pascha,  quae  multis  locis  iam  concessae  sunt,  licet  nondum  in 
Octavario  insertae  ? 

7.  An  ex  Decreto  n.  2390,  Varsavien.,  7  Maii  1746  ad  V, 
coUecta  de  Ss.  Sacramento  prohibeatur  in  Missis  privatis  durante 
expositione,  quae  non  fit  pro  publica  causa,  vel  addi  possit,  pro 
libitu  Sacerdotis  ? 

8.  Missa  Conventualis  incipiendane  est  dicto  V.  Benedicamus 
Domino  et  R.  Deo  gratias,  praecedentis  horae  canonicae  in  Nocte 
Nativitatis  Domini,  vel  adhuc  addendum  est  Fidelium  animae 
etc.  et  Pater  noster,  ut  quidam  volunt  ? 

9.  Sunt  quaedam  in  Anglia  ecclesiae  Missionum,  quae  con- 
ventum  Monialium  S.  Clarae  adnexum  habent,  quarum  chorus, 
modo  consueto,  vel  per  crates,  cum  ecclesia  communicat.  Num 
istae  ecclesiae,  quoad  Missae  celebrationem,  habendae  sint 
tamquam  ecclesiae  Monialium,  ita  ut  inibi  Missae  legi  debeant 
Officio  earum  conformes  ? 

Et  S.  eadem  Congregatio,  ad  relationem  subscripti  Secretarii, 
exquisita  sententia  Commissionis  Liturgicae,  omnibus  sedulo 
expensis,  respondendum  censuit  : 

Ad  I.  Affirmative,  iuxta  Decreta.  Ad  II.  Affirmative.  Ad 
III.  Affirmative.  Ad  IV.  Affirmative.  {'Ad  V.  Affirmative  ad 
utramque  partem.  Ad  VI.  Affirmative,  ex  indulto.  Ad  VII. 
Commemoratio  Ss.  Sacramenti  omnino  omittitur  durante 
expositione  ex  causa  privata.  Ad  VIII.  Affirmative  ad  primam 
partem  iuxta  Rubricam  specialem  in  Nativitate  Domini  ;  Negative 
ad  secundam.    Ad  IX.  Negative. 

Atque  ita  rescripsit  et  indulsit.  "* 
Die  20  Novembris  1903. 

S.  Card.  Cretoni,  S.R.C.  Praef. 

L.  •i.S. 

•i<  D.  Panici,  Archiep.  Laodicen.,  Secret. 

the  faculties  of  bi.«hops  to  grant  tndulglinces  ^ 

s.  congregatio  indulgentiarum 
Urbis  et  Oreis 
Pontificale   lubilaeum   fel.   rec.   Leonis   XIII,  solemnibus 


1  This  decree  of  the  Sacred  Congregation  of  Indulgences  amplifies  the 
Episcopal  powers  in  the  matter  of  granting  Indulgences.    By  the  act  of  the 


156  THE  IRISH  ECCLHSIASTICAL  RECORD 


ubique  laetitiis  ab  orbe  catholico  peractum,  congruam  sane 
occasionem  praebuit,  qua  plures  sacrorum  Antistites,  praesertim 
ex  regione  Neapolitana  et  Sicula,  ad  auspicatum  eventum  novo 
quodam  pietatis  religiosique  fructus  pignore  consecrandum, 
enixas,  coniunctis  simul  litteris,  preces  admoverunt,  ut  sua, 
in  indulgentiis  elargiendis,  facultas  aliquantum  ab  Apostolica 
Sede  adaugeretur. 

Has  vero  postulationes,  Pontificis  optimi  obitu,  interceptas 
sed,  ex  S.  Congregationis  Indulgentiis  Sacrisque  Reliquiis  prae- 
positae  consulto,  ab  infrascripto  Cardinali,  eidem  Congregationi 
Praefecto,  in  audientia  die  28  Augusti,  hoc  vertente  anno,  ad 
Vaticanum  habita,  rursum  et  suppliciter  exhibitas,  cum  primum 
agnovit  sanctissimus  Dominus  noster  Pius  Papa  X,  nihil  se  in 
votis  magis  habere  est  testatus,  quam  ut  gloriosam  Antecessoris 
memoriam  digno,  hac  etiam  in  re,  honoris  documento  prose- 
queretur,  et  propriam  insuper,  erga  universos  ecclesiasticos 
ordines,  paternam  charitatem  oppido  ostenderet.  Quapropter 
Sanctitas  Sua,  percepta  omnium  relatione,  non  modo  memoratis 
votis  annuere,  verum  etiam  clementer  decernere  dignata  est,  ut, 
in  posterum,  Emi.  Patres  Cardinales,  in  suis  Titulis  aeque  ac 
Dioecesibus,  bis  centum,  Archiepiscopi  centum,  atque  denique 
Episcopi  quinquaginta  dierum  Indulgentiam  elargiri  valeant, 
dum  tamen  serventur  cuncta  hue  usque  ab  eisdem  servata,  in 
huiusmodi  Indulgentiarum  elargitionibus.    Hanc  autem  con- 
cessionem  futuris  quoque  temporibus  perpetuo  valituram  exstare 
voluit.    Contrariis  quibuscumque  non  obstantibus. 

Datum  Romae,  ex  Secretaria  S.  Congregationis  Indulgentiis 
Sacrisque  Reliquiis  praepositae,  die  28  Augusti  an.  1903. 

A.  Card.  Tripepi,  Praef. 

L.  ^S. 

Pro  R.  P.  D.  Francisco,  Archiep.  Amiden.,  Secret. 
losEPHUS  M.  Can.  Coselli,  Substit. 


fourth  Lateran  Council  these  powers  were  restricted  to  indulgences  of  forty 
days,  except  on  the  occasion  of  the  consecration  of  a  church  or  an  altar,  when 
Bishops  might  grant  an  indulgence  of  one  year.  Now,  however,  in  virtue  of 
this  decree,  Bishops  are  empowered  to  grant  an  indulgence  of  Jifty,  Arch- 
bishops one  of  a  hundred,  and  Cardinals  one  of  two  htindrcd  days  in  places 
within  their  respective  jurisdictions,  and  subject  to  the  same  conditions  as 
formerly.  Indulgences  granted  by  any  authority  inferior  to  that  of  the 
Supreme  Pontiff  are  not  applicable  to  the  souls  in  Purgatory. 


NOTES  AND  QUERIES 


trSE  OP  ALTAR-STONES  WITHOUT  RBL.IOS 

Rev.  Dear  Sir, — I  have  an  altar-stone  which  has  been  in 
use  from  time  immemorial.  It  has  no  relics.  I  have  seen  it 
stated  somewhere  that  an  altar-stone,  not  containing  reHcs, 
may  be  used  in  an  Irish  diocese,  provided  (i)  it  has  been  so 
used  continuously  irom  the  distant  past,  and  (2)  that  the  use  of 
such  stones  (without  relics)  has  never  been  prohibited  in  the 
diocese.    May  I  use  the  stone  mentioned  above  ? 

Yours  truly, 

Pr^;TRE. 

The  use  of  portable  altars  or  altar-stones  without  relics 
was,  we  believe,  sanctioned  in  the  past  by  legitimate  autho- 
rity in  certain  places  in  Ireland.  We  have  not  seen  the 
document  by  which  this  usage,  so  strangely  at  variance  with 
Rubrical  requirements,  was  tolerated,  and  therefore  we 
cannot  say  under  what  conditions,  or  for  what  reasons  the 
anomaly  was  permitted.  We  may  presume,  however,  that 
the  privilege  of  using  such  stones  was  not  granted  without 
cause,  and  that  it  was  meant  to  be  discontinued  with  the 
cessation  of  the  reasons  that  demanded  it.  Now,  taking 
into  account  the  gravity  of  the  obligation  of  the  Rubrics, 
and  the  facility,  at  the  present  clay,  of  obtaining  everything 
that  is  becoming  as  w'cll  as  essential  for  the  decent  celebra- 
tion of  the  Holy  Sacrifice,  is  there  sufficient  reason  for  still 
continuing  to  use  altar-stones  that  are  not  consecrated 
according  to  the  laws  of  the  Liturgy  ? 

The  Synod  of  Maynooth  forbade  the  consecration  of  altar- 
stones  that  were  not  of  sufficient  size  to  conveniently  contain 
the  chalice,  host,  and  ciborium.  Is  not  the  absence  of  relics 
a  more  essential  defect  than  insufficiency  of  size  ?  The 
Sacred  Congregation  of  Rites  has  declared  that  an  altar, 
which  has  lost  its  relics,  should  be  reconsecrated,'^  and  lays 
down  most  precise  instructions  as  to  how  the  relics  are  to 
be  enclosed  and  securely  deposited  in  their  sepulchre.  Then, 


^  Acta  et  Decreta  Synodi  Man.  (1875),  p.  80. 
»  Cf.  Deer.  S.K.C.,  n.n.  2876,  2880,  3575. 


158 


THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


too,  the  presence  of  the  rehcs  of  the  holy  martyrs  beneath 
the  altar  on  which  the  Divine  Sacrifice  is  offered  is  full  of 
profound  and  mystical  significance.  They  remind  us  of 
the  close  union  that  now  exists  between  Christ  immolated 
on  the  altar  and  the  saints  who  loved  Him  even  to  shedding 
their  blood,  and  of  the  sufferings  and  tribulations  through 
which  they  have  passed  to  their  rest.  Again,  when  the 
celebrant,  at  the  beginning  of  Mass,  is  ascending  the  altar 
steps,  he  says  the  prayer  '  Oramus  te  Domine  per  merita 
sanctorum  tuorum,  quorum  reliquiae  hie  sunt,''  etc.  How 
can  these  words  be  verified  unless  the  relics  are  present  ? 
Or  these  other  w  ords  from  the  hymn  in  honour  of  the  Holy 
Innocents  : — 

.  Araum  sub  ipsam  simplices 
Palma  et  coronis  luditis. 

We  are  of  opinion  then,  unless  the  time  when  the  Rubrics 
are  to  be  observed  in  this  country  in  all  their  essential 
details  is  to  be  indefinitely  postponed,  that  there  can  be 
no  justification  at  the  present  day  for  using  an  altar-stone 
without  relics. 

COMMEMORATION  0¥  •  PATRON0S  LOCI '  IN  OFFICE.  OtTSTOM 
BEGAHDING  ST.  JOHN'S  GOSPEL 

Rev.  Dear  Sir, — Kindly  answer  the  following  questions  : — 
I.  In  the  Suffragia  Sanctorum  the  Patron  of  the  parish  is  to 
be  commemorated,  if  such  exists,  and  if  not  the  Patron  of  the 
diocese.  Now,  I  happen  to  be  in  a  parish  whose  Patron  though 
acknowledged  by  the  pious  tradition  of  the  people,  is  not  men- 
tioned in  the  Breviary.  In  the  circumstances  am  I  to  com- 
memorate the  Patron  of  the  Parish  or  the  Patron  of  the  diocese  ? 

2.  In  a  certain  locality  the  people  have  the  custom  of  asking 
a  priest  for  an  '  Oration,'  that  is,  the  beginning  of  St.  John's 
Gospel  written  by  the  priest  on  a  slip  of  paper.  This  is  folded 
tightly,  and  worn  amulet-like,  by  the  patient.  What  sanction 
is  there  for  this  custom  ? 

Neo-Sacerdos. 

I.  It  is  only  where  such  a  custom  exists  that  the  Patron 
of  the  -place,  as  distinct  from  the  Titular  or  Patron  of  the 


NOTES  AND  QUERIES 


Church  is  to  be  commemorated  in  the  Suffragia  of  the 
Office.'  In  the  rubric  of  the  Roman  Breviary  on  this  point 
the  directions  given  are  : — '  De  Patrono  vel  Titulari  ecclesiae 
iiat  commera.'  etc.,  and  there  is  nothing  about  the  Patron 
of  the  place.  We  assume  then  there  is  custom  for  making 
the  commemoration  of  the  Patron  of  the  place  in  the  case 
contemplated  by  our  correspondent,  and  we  shall  discuss 
the  question  on  this  assumption.  The  Patronus  loci,  there- 
fore, to  be  entitled  to  any  honours  in  the  Divine  Office,  must 
be  properly  constituted,  and  for  this  it  is  necessary  that  he 
be  elected  by  the  people  of  the  district  in  concert  with  the 
clergy  and  Bishop  of  the  Diocese,  and  approved  of  by  the 
Holy  See.  The  conditions  of  election  are  set  out  in  a 
general  decree  of  the  Congregation  of  Rites  issued  on  the 
23rd  March,  1630.    They  are  briefly  : — 

(1)  No  one  is  to  be  chosen  Patron  whose  name  is  not  on  the 
list  of  Canonized  Saints. 

(2)  The  selection  must  be  made  by  the  people  of  the  particular 
district  in  conjunction  with  the  Clergy  and  Bishop  and  with  the 
sanction  of  the  Holy  See. 

(3)  The  election  of  new  Patrons  must  be  referred  to  the 
Congregation  of  Rites  whose  approval  is  to  be  obtained. 

If,  then,  the  Patron  of  the  place  in  question  has  not  been 
duly  and  legitimately  elected  nothing  is  to  be  mentioned 
about  him  in  the  Divine  Office.  Our  correspondent,  there- 
fore, should  satisfy  himself  about  two  things,  viz.,  the  custom 
of  commemorating  the  Patron  and  the  fact  of  his  canonical 
institution,  before  making  up  his  mind  about  the  course  he 
should  follow. 

2.  We  are  quite  familiar  with  the  practice  referred  to, 
but,  up  to  the  present,  we  are  not  in  a  position  to  give 
definite  information  as  to  its  origin  and  sanction.  We 
shall  continue  to  look  the  matter  up,  and,  in  the  meantime, 
shaU  be  glad  if  any  of  our  readers  can  throw  light  on  the 
subject.  In  some  parts  of  the  country  the  people  ask  for 
a  '  Gospel,'  and  where  the  habit  of  making  this  request  is 


*  Cf.  De  Hert,  Sacra  Lit.  prax.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  377  :  Wapelhorst,  Comp.  Lit., 
p.  371 :  S.R.C.  Deer  4043, 


r6o  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


common,  the  priests  provide  themselves  with  printed  forms 
of  the  whole  Gospel  of  St.  John,  which  they  fold  in  a 
peculiar  way  and  bless  with  holy  water  before  giving  away. 
It  is  then  carried  about  the  person,  and  is  regarded  with 
a  certain  religious  respect.  Of  course  care  should  be 
taken  that  people  do  not  regard  the  '  Gospel '  with  any 
superstitious  reverence.  Our  opinion  is  that  it  is  commonly 
held  in  the  same  religious  estimation  as  the  '  Agnus  Dei,' 
and,  consequently,  we  are  inclined  to  regard  it  as  a  kind 
of  '  Sacramental.' 

P.  MORRISROE. 


[    i6]  ] 


DOCUMENTS 

'MOTU  PROPRIO'    OF  POPE  PIUS  X.  ON  SACRED  MUSIC 

Among  the  cares  of  the  pastoral  office,  not  only  of  this 
Supreme  Chair,  which  We,  though  unworth}',  occupy  through 
the  inscrutable  disposition  of  Providence,  but  of  every  local 
church,  a  leading  one  is  without  question  that  of  maintaining 
and  promoting  the  decorum  of  the  House  of  God  in  which  the 
august  mysteries  of  religion  are  celebrated,  and  where  the 
Christian  people  assemble  to  receive  the  grace  of  the  Sacraments, 
to  assist  at  the  Holy  Sacrifice  of  the  altar,  to  adore  the  most 
august  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Body,  and  to  unite  in  the  common 
prayer  of  the  Church  in  the  public  and  solemn  liturgical  offices. 
Nothing  should  have  place,  therefore,  in  the  temple  calculated 
to  disturb  or  even  merely  to  diminish  the  piety  and  devotion 
of  the  faithful,  nothing  that  may  give  reasonable  cause  for  dis- 
gust or  scandal,  nothing,  above  all,  which  directly  offends  the 
decorum  and  the  sanctity  of  the  sacred  functions  and  is  thus 
unworthy  of  the  House  of  Prayer  and  of  the  Majesty  of  God. 

We  do  not  touch  separately  on  the  abuses  in  this  matter  which 
may  arise.    To-day  Our  attention  is  directed  to  one  of  the  most 
common  of  them,  one  of  the  most  difficult  to  eradicate,  and  the 
existence  of  which  is  sometimes  to  be  deplored  in  places  where 
everything  else  is  deserving  of  the  highest  praise — the  beauty 
and  sumptuousness  of  the  temple,  the  splendour  and  the  accu- 
rate performance  of  the  ceremonies,  the  attendance  of  the  clergy, 
the  gravity  and  piety  of  the  officiating  ministers.    Such  is  the 
abuse  affecting  sacred  chant  and  music.    And  indeed,  whether 
it  is  owing  to  the  very  nature  of  this  art,  fluctuating  and  variable 
as  it  is  in  itself,  or  to  the  succeeding  changes  in  tastes  and  habits 
with  the  course  of  time,  or  to  the  fatal  influence  exercised  on 
sacred  art  by  profane  and  theatrical  art,  or  to  the  pleasure  that 
music  directly  produces,  and  that  it  is  not  always  easily  con- 
tained within  the  right  limits,  or  finally  to  the  many  prejudices 
on  the  matter,  so  lightly  introduced  and  so  tenaciously  main- 
tained even  among  responsible  and  pious  persons,  the  fact 
remains  that  there  is  a  general  tendency  to  deviate  from  the 

VOL.  XV.  I 


l62 


THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


right  rule,  prescribed  by  the  end  for  which  art  is  admitted  to 
the  service  of  pubUc  worship  and  which  is  set  forth  very  clearly 
in  the  ecclesiastical  canons,  in  the  Ordinances  of  the  general  and 
provincial  Councils,  in  the  prescriptions  which  have  at  various 
times  emanated  from  the  Sacred  Roman  Congregations,  and 
from  Our  Predecessors  the  Sovereign  Pontiffs. 

It  is  grateful  for  Us  to  be  able  to  acknowledge  with  real  satis- 
faction the  large  amount  of  good  that  has  been  effected  in  this 
respect  during  the  last  decade  in  this  Our  fostering  city  of  Rome, 
and  in  many  churches  in  Our  country,  but  in  a  more  especial 
way  among  some  nations  in  which  illustrious  men,  full  of  zeal 
for  the  worship  of  God,  have,  with  the  approval  of  the  Holy  See 
and  under  the  direction  of  the  Bishops,  united  in  flourishing 
Societies  and  restored  sacred  music  to  the  fullest  honour  in  all 
their  churches  and  chapels.  Still  the  good  work  that  has  been 
done  is  very  far  indeed  from  being  common  to  all,  and  when  We 
consult  Our  own  personal  experience  and  take  into  account  the 
great  number  of  complaints  that  have  reached  us  during  the 
short  time  that  has  elapsed  since  it  pleased  the  Lord  to  elevate 
Our  humility  to  the  supreme  summit  of  the  Roman  Pontificate, 
We  consider  it  Our  first  duty,  without  further  delay,  to  raise 
Our  voice  at  once  in  reproof  and  condemnation  of  all  that  is 
seen  to  be  out  of  harmony  with  the  right  rule  above  indicated 
in  the  functions  of  public  worship  and  in  the  performance  of  the 
ecclesiastical  offices. 

Filled  as  We  are  v/ith  a  most  ardent  desire  to  see  the  true 
Christian  spirit  flourish  in  every  respect  and  be  preserved  by 
all  the  faithful.  We  deem  it  necessary  to  provide  before  aught 
else  for  the  sanctity  and  dignity  of  the  temple,  in  which  the 
faithful  assemble  for  no  other  object  than  that  of  acquiring 
this  spirit  from  its  foremost  and  indispensable  fount,  which  is 
the  active  participation  in  the  most  holy  mysteries  and  in  the 
public  and  solemn  prayer  of  the  Church.  And  it  is  vain  to 
hope  that  the  blessing  of  heaven  will  descend  abundantly 
upon  us,  when  our  homage  to  the  Most  High,  instead  of  ascending 
in  the  odour  of  sweetness,  puts  into  the  hand  of  the  Lord  the 
scourges  wherewith  of  old  the  Divine  Redeemer  drove  the  un- 
worthy profaners  from  the  Temple. 

Hence,  in  order  that  no  one  for  the  future  may  be  able  to 
plead  in  excuse  that  he  did  not  clearly  understand  his  duty 
and  that  all  vagueness  may  be  eliminated  from  the  interpreta- 


DOCUMENTS 


163 


tion  of  matters  which  have  already  been  commanded,  We  have 
deemed  it  expedient  to  point  out  briefly  the  principles  regulating 
sacred  music  in  the  functions  of  public  worship,  and  to  gather 
together  in  a  general  survey  the  principal  prescriptions  of  the 
Church  against  the  more  common  abuses  in  this  subject.  We 
do  therefore  publish,  miito  proprio  and  with  certain  knowledge, 
Our  present  Instruction  to  which,  as  to  a  juridical  code  of  sacred 
music  [quasi  a  codice  giuridice  delta  musica  sacra),  We  will  with 
the  fulness  of  Our  Apostolic  Authority  that  the  force  of  law  be 
given,  and  We  do  by  Our  present  handwriting  impose  its  scru- 
pulous observance  on  all. 

INSTRUCTION  ON  SACRED  MUSIC 
I. 

GENERAL  PRINCIPLES 

1.  Sacred  music,  being  a  complementary  part  of  the  solemn 
liturgy,  participates  in  the  general  scope  of  the  liturgy,  which  is 
the  glory  of  God  and  the  sanctification  and  edification  of  the 
faithful.  It  contributes  to  the  decorum  and  splendour  of  the 
ecclesiastical  ceremonies,  and  since  its  principal  office  is  to  clothe 
with  suitable  melody  the  liturgical  chant  proposed  for  the  under- 
standing of  the  faithful,  its  proper  aim  is  to  add  greater  efficacy 
to  the  text,  in  order  that  through  it  the  faithful  may  be  the 
more  easily  moved  to  devotion  and  better  disposed  for  the 
reception  of  the  fruits  of  grace  belonging  to  the  celebration  of 
the  most  holy  mysteries. 

2.  Sacred  music  should  consequently  possess,  in  the  highest 
degree,  the  qualities  proper  to  the  liturgy,  and  precisely  sanctity 
and  goodness  of  form,  from  which  its  other  character  of  universality 
spontaneously  springs. 

It  must  be  holy,  and  must,  therefore,  exclude  all  profanity 
not  only  in  itself,  but  in  the  manner  in  which  it  is  presented  by 
those  who  execute  it. 

It  must  be  true  art,  for  otherwise  it  will  be  impossible  for 
it  to  exercise  on  the  minds  of  those  who  listen  to  it,  that  efificacy 
which  the  Church  aims  at  obtaining  in  admitting  into  her  liturgy 
the  art  of  musical  sounds. 

But  it  must,  at  the  same  time,  be  universal  in  the  sense  that 
while  every  nation  is  permitted  to  admit  into  its  ecclesiastical 
compositions  those  special  forms  which  may  be  said  to  constitute 


164 


THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


its  native  music,  still  these  forms  must  be  subordinated  in  such 
a  manner  to  the  general  characteristics  of  sacred  music  that 
nobody  of  any  nation  may  receive  an  impression  other  than  good 
on  hearing  them. 

II. 

THE  DIFFERENT  KINDS  OF  SACRED  MUSIC 

3.  These  qualities  are  to  be  found,  in  the  highest  degree,  in 
the  Gregorian  Chant,  which  is,  consequently,  the  Chant  proper 
to  the  Roman  Church,  the  only  Chant  she  has  inherited  from 
the  ancient  fathers,  which  she  has  jealously  guarded  for  centuries 
in  her  hturgical  codices,  which  she  directly  proposes  to  the 
faithful  as  her  own,  which  she  prescribes  exclusively  for  some 
parts  of  the  liturgy,  and  which  the  most  recent  studies  have  so 
happily  restored  to  their  integrity  and  purity. 

On  these  grounds  the  Gregorian  Chant  has  always  been 
regarded  as  the  supreme  model  for  sacred  music,  so  that  it  is 
fully  legitimate  to  lay  down  the  following  rule  :  the  more.,  closely 
a  composition  for  church  approaches  in  its  movement,  inspiration, 
and  savour  the  Gregorian  form,  the  more  sacred  and  liturgical  it 
becomes  ;  and  the  more  out  of  harmony  it  is  with  that  supreme 
model,  the  less  worthy  it  is  of  the  temple. 

The  ancient  traditional  Gregorian  Chant  must,  therefore,  be 
largely  lestored  to  the  function  of  public  worship,  and  everybody 
must  take  for  certain  that  an  ecclesiastical  function  loses  nothing 
of  its  solemnity  when  it  is  accompanied  by  no  other  music  but 
this. 

Special  efforts  are  to  be  made  to  restore  the  use  of  the 
Gregorian  Chant  by  the  people,  so  that  the  faithful  may  again 
take  a  more  active  part  in  the  ecclesiastical  offices,  as  was  the 
case  in  ancient  times. 

4.  The  above-mentioned  qualities  are  also  possessed  in  an 
excellent  degree  by  the  classic  polyphony,  especially  of  the 
Roman  School,  which  reached  its  greatest  perfection  in  the 
fifteenth  century,  owing  to  the  works  of  Pierluigi  da  Palestrina, 
and  continued  subsequently  to  produce  compositions  of  excel- 
lent quality  from  the  liturgical  and  musical  standpoint.  The 
classic  polyphony  agrees  admirably  with  the  Gregorian  Chant, 
the  supreme  model  of  all  sacred  music,  and  hence  it  has  been 
found  worthy  of  a  place  side  by  side  with  the  Gregorian  Chant 


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165 


in  the  more  solemn  functions  of  the  Church,  such  as  those  of 
the  Pontifical  Chapel.  This,  too,  must,  therefore,  be  restored 
largely  in  ecclesiastical  functions,  especially  in  the  more  impor- 
tant basilicas,  in  cathedrals,  and  in  the  churches  and  chapels  of 
seminaries  and  other  ecclesiastical  institutions  in  which  the 
necessary  means  are  usually  not  lacking. 

5.  The  Church  has  always  recognised  and  favoured  the 
progress  of  the  arts,  admitting  to  the  service  of  the  cult  every- 
thing good  and  beautiful  discovered  by  genius  in  the  course  of 
ages — always,  however,  with  due  regard  to  the  liturgical  laws. 
Consequently  modern  music  is  also  admitted  in  the  Church, 
since  it,  too,  furnishes  compositions  of  such  excellence,  sobriety 
and  gravity,  that  they  are  in  no  way  unworthy  of  the  liturgical 
functions. 

Still,  since  modern  music  has  risen  mainly  to  serve  profane 
uses,  greater  care  must  be  taken  with  regard  to  it,  in  order  that 
the  musical  compositions  of  modern  style  which  are  admitted 
in  the  Church  may  contain  nothing  profane,  be  free  from  reminis- 
cences of  motifs  adopted  in  the  theatres,  and  be  not  fashioned 
even  in  their  external  forms  after  the  manner  of  profane  pieces. 

6.  Among  the  different  kinds  of  modern  music  that  which 
appears  less  suitable  for  accompanying  the  functions  of  public 
worship  is  the  theatrical  style,  which  was  in  the  greatest  vogue, 
especially  in  Italy,  during  the  last  century.  This  of  its  very 
nature  is  diametrically  opposed  to  the  Gregorian  Chant  and  the 
classic  polyphony,  and  therefore  to  the  most  important  law  of 
all  good  music.  Besides  the  intrinsic  structure,  the  rhythm 
and  what  is  known  as  the  conventionalism  of  this  style  adapt 
themselves  but  badly  to  the  requirements  of  true  liturgical  music. 

III. 

THE  LITURGICAL  TEXT 

7.  Tlie  language  proper  to  the  Roman  Church  is  Latin. 
Hence  it  is  forbidden  to  sing  anything  whatever  in  the  verna- 
cular in  solemn  liturgical  functions — much  more  to  sing  in  the 
vernacular  the  variable  or  common  parts  of  the  Mass  and  Office. 

8.  As  the  texts  that  may  be  rendered  in  music,  and  the  order 
in  which  they  are  to  be  rendered,  are  determined  for  every 
liturgical  function,  it  is  not  lawful  to  confuse  this  order  or  to 
change  the  prescribed  texts  for  others  selected  at  will,  or  to 


i66 


THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


omit  them  either  entirely  or  even  in  part,  unless  when  the 
rubrics  allow  that  some  versicles  of  the  text  be  supplied  with 
the  organ,  while  these  versicles  are  simply  recited  in  choir. 
However  it  is  permissible,  according  to  the  custom  of  the 
Roman  Church,  to  sing  a  motett  to  the  Blessed  Sacrament  after 
the  Benedidiis  in  a  Solemn  Mass.  It  is  also  permitted,  after 
the  Offertory  prescribed  for  the  Mass  has  been  sung,  to  execute 
during  the  time  that  remains  a  brief  motett  to  words  approved 
by  the  Church. 

9.  The  liturgical  text  must  be  sung  as  it  is  in  the  books, 
without  alteration  or  inversion  of  the  words,  without  undue 
repetition,  without  breaking  syllables,  and  always  in  a  manner 
intelligible  to  the  faithful  who  listen. 

IV. 

EXTERNAL  FORM  OF  THE  SACRED  COMPOSITIONS 

I  o.  The  different  parts  of  the  Mass  and  the  Office  must  retain, 
even  musically,  that  particular  concept  and  form  which  eccle- 
siastical tradition  has  assigned  to  them,  and  which  is  admirably 
expressed  in  the  Gregorian  Chant.  Different,  therefore,  must 
be  the  method  of  composing  an  introit,  a  gradual,  an  antiphon, 
a  psalm,  a  hymn,  a  Glona  in  excelsis. 

II.  In  particular  the  following  rules  are  to  be  observed  :— 

(a)  The  Kyrie,  Gloria,  Credo,  etc.,  of  the  Mass  must  preserve 
the  unity  of  composition  proper  to  the  text.  It  is  not  lawful, 
therefore,  to  compose  them  in  separate  pieces,  in  such  a  way  as 
that  each  of  such  pieces  may  form  a  complete  composition  in 
itself,  and  be  capable  of  being  detached  from  the  rest  and  sub- 
stituted by  another. 

(&)  In  the  Office  of  Vespers  it  should  be  the  rule  to  foUow 
the  Ccerimoniale  Episcoporuni,  which  prescribesthe  Gregorian 
Chant  for  the  psalmody  and  permits  figured  music  for  the 
versicles  of  the  Gloria  Patri  and  the  hymn. 

It  will  nevertheless  be  lawful  on  the  greater  solemnities  to 
alternate  the  Gregorian  Chant  of  the  choir  with  the  so-called 
falsi-hordoni  or  with  verses  similarly  composed  in  a  proper 
manner. 

It  may  be  also  allowed  sometimes  to  render  the  single  psalms 
in  their  entirety  in  music,  provided  the  form  proper  to  psalmody 
be  preserved  in  such  compositions  ;  that  is  to  say,  provided  the 


DOCUMENTS 


167 


singers  seem  to  be  psalmodising  among  themselves,  either  with 
new  motifs  or  with  those  taken  from  the  Gregorian  Chant  or 
based  upon  it. 

The  psalms  known  as  di  concerto  are  therefore  for  ever  excluded 
and  prohibited. 

(c)  In  the  hymns  of  the  Church  the  traditional  form  of  the 
hymn  is  preserved.  It  is  not  lawful,  therefore,  to  compose,  for 
instance,  a  Taninm  ergo  in  such  wise  that  the  first  strophe 
presents  a  romanza,  a  cavatina,  an  adagio,  and  the  Genitori  an 
allegro. 

{d)  The  antiphons  of  the  Vespers  must  be  as  a  rule  rendered 
with  the  Gregorian  melody  proper  to  each.  Should  they,  how- 
ever, in  some  special  case  be  sung  in  figured  music  they  must 
never  have  either  the  form  of  a  concert  melody  or  the  fulness  of 
a  motett  or  a  cantata. 

V. 

THE  SINGERS 

12.  With  the  exception  of  the  melodies  proper  to  the  celebrant 
at  the  altar  and  to  the  ministers,  which  must  be  always  sung  only 
in  Gregorian  Chant,  and  without  the  accompaniment  of  the  organ, 
all  the  rest  of  the  liturgical  chant  belongs  to  the  choir  of  levites, 
and,  therefore,  singers  in  church,  even  when  they  are  laymen, 
are  really  taking  the  place  of  the  ecclesiastical  choir.  Hence  the 
music  rendered  by  them  must,  at  least  for  the  greater  part,  retain 
the  character  of  choral  music. 

By  this  it  is  not  to  be  understood  that  solos  are  entirely 
excluded.  But  solo  singing  should  never  predominate  in  such 
a  way  as  to  have  the  greater  part  of  the  liturgical  chant  executed 
in  that  manner  ;  rather  should  it  have  the  character  of  a  hint  or 
a  melodic  projection  [spunio),  and  be  strictly  bound  up  with  the 
rest  of  the  choral  composition. 

13.  On  the  same  principle  it  follows  that  singers  in  church 
have  a  real  liturgical  office,  and  that  therefore  women,  as  being 
incapable  of  exercising  such  office,  cannot  be  admitted  to  form 
part  ot  the  choir  or  of  the  musical  chapel.  Whenever,  then,  it 
is  desired  to  employ  the  actue  voices  of  sopranos  and  contraltos, 
these  parts  must  be  taken  by  boys,  according  to  the  most  ancient 
usage  of  the  Church. 

14.  Finally,  only  those  are  to  be  admitted  to  form  part  of 


l68  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


the  musica  chapel  of  a  church  who  are  men  of  known  piety  and 
probity  of  hfe,  and  these  should  by  their  modest  and  devout 
bearing  during  the  liturgical  functions  show  that  they  are  worthy 
of  the  holy  office  they  exercise.  It  will  also  be  fitting  that  singers 
while  singing  in  church  wear  the  ecclesiastical  habit  and  surplice, 
and  that  they  be  hidden  behind  gratings  when  the  choir  is 
excessively  open  to  the  public  gaze. 

VL 

ORGAN  AND  INSTRUMENTS 

15.  Although  the  music  proper  to  the  Church  is  purely  vocal 
music,  music  with  the  accompaniment  of  the  organ  is  also  per- 
mitted. In  some  special  cases,  within  due  limits  and  within  the 
proper  regards,  other  instruments  may  be  allowed,  but  never 
without  the  sjDecial  licence  of  the  Ordinary,  according  to  pre- 
scriptions of  the  Ccerimoniale  Episcoporum. 

16.  As  the  chant  should  always  have  the  principal  place, 
the  organ  or  instruments  should  merely  sustain  and  never  oppress 
it. 

17.  It  is  not  permitted  to  have  the  chant  preceded  by  long 
preludes  or  to  interrupt  it  with  intermezzo  pieces. 

18.  The  sound  of  the  organ  as  an  accompaniment  to  the  chant 
in  preludes,  interludes,  and  the  like  must  be  not  only  governed 
by  the  special  nature  of  the  instrument,  but  must  participate  in 
all  the  qualities  proper  to  sacred  music  as  above  enumerated. 

19.  The  employment  of  the  piano  is  forbidden  in  church,  as 
is  also  that  of  noisy  or  frivolous  instruments  such  as  drum, 
cymbals,  bells,  and  the  like. 

20.  It  is  strictly  forbidden  to  have  bands  play  in  church, 
and  only  in  a  special  case  and  with  the  consent  of  the  Ordinary 
will  it  be  permissible  to  admit  a  number  of  wind  instruments, 
limited,  judicious,  and  proportioned  to  the  size  of  the  place — 
provided  the  composition  and  accompaniment  to  be  executed  be 
written  in  a  grave  and  suitable  style,  and  similar  in  all  respects 
to  that  proper  to  the  organ. 

21.  In  processions  outside  the  church  the  Ordinary  may  give 
permission  for  a  band,  provided  no  profane  pieces  are  executed. 
It  would  be  desirable  in  such  cases  that  the  band  confine  itself 
to  accompanying  some  spiritual  canticle  sung  in  Latin  or  in  the 
vernacular  by  the  singers  and  the  pious  associations  which  take 
part  in  the  procession. 


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169 


VII. 

THE  LENGTH  OF  THE  LITURGICAL  CHANT 

22.  It  is  not  lawful  to  keep  the  priest  at  the  altar  waiting 
on  account  of  the  chant  or  the  music  for  a  length  of  time  not 
allowed  by  the  liturgy.  According  to  the  ecclesiastical  prescrip- 
tions the  Sancius  of  the  Mass  should  be  over  before  the  elevation, 
and  therefore  tlie  priest  must  here  have  regard  to  the  singers. 
The  Gloria  and  Credo  ought,  according  to  the  Gregorian  tradition, 
to  be  relatively  short. 

23.  In  general  it  must  be  considered  to  be  a  very  grave  abuse 
when  the  liturgy  in  ecclesiastical  functions  is  made  to  appear 
secondary  to  and  in  a  manner  at  the  service  of  the  music,  for 
the  music  is  merely  a  part  of  the  hturgy  and  its  humble  handmaid. 

VIII.' 

PRINCIPAL  MEANS 

24.  For  the  exact  execution  of  what  has  been  herein  laid 
down,  the  Bishops,  if  they  have  not  already  done  so,  are  to 
institute  in  their  dioceses  a  special  Commission  composed  of 
persons  really  competent  in  sacred  music,  and  to  this  Commission 
let  them  entrust  in  the  manner  they  find  most  suitable  the  task 
of  watching  over  the  music  executed  in  their  churches.  Nor  are 
they  to  see  merely  that  the  music  is  good  in  itself,  but  also  that 
it  is  adapted  to  the  powers  of  the  singers  and  be  always  well 
executed. 

25.  In  seminaries  of  clerics  and  in  ecclesiastical  institutions 
let  the  above-mentioned  traditional  Gregorian  Chant  be  culti- 
vated by  all  with  diligence  and  love,  according  to  the  Tridentine 
prescriptions,  and  let  the  superiors  be  liberal  of  encouragement 
and  praise  towards  their  young  subjects.  In  like  manner  let 
a  Schola  Cantorum  be  established,  whenever  possible,  among  the 
clerics  for  the  execution  of  sacred  polyphony  and  of  good  liturgical 
music. 

26.  In  the  ordinary  lessons  of  Liturgy,  Morals,  Canon  Law, 
given  to  the  students  of  theology,  let  care  be  taken  to  touch  on 
those  points  which  regard  more  directly  the  principles  and  laws 
of  sacred  music,  and  let  an  attempt  be  made  to  complete  the 
doctrine  with  some  particular  instruction  in  the  aesthetic  side 
of  the  sacred  art,  so  that  the  clerics  may  not  leave  the  seminary 


THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


ignorant  of  all  those  notions,  necessary  as  they  are  for  complete 
ecclesiastical  culture. 

27.  Let  care  be  taken  to  restore,  at  least  in  the  principal 
churches,  the  aiicient  Scholce  Caniorum,  as  has  been  done  with 
excellent  fruit  in  a  great  many  places.  It  is  not  difficult  for  a 
zealous  clergy  to  institute  such  Scholce  even  in  the  minor  and 
country  churches— nay,  in  them  they  will  find  a  very  easy  means 
for  gathering  around  them  both  the  children  and  the  adults,  to 
their  own  profit  and  the  edification  of  the  people. 

28.  Let  efforts  be  made  to  support  and  promote  in  the  best 
way  possible  the  higher  schools  of  sacred  music  where  these 
already  exist,  and  to  help  in  founding  them  where  they  do  not. 
It  is  of  the  utmost  importance  that  the  Church  herself  provide 
for  the  instructions  of  its  masters,  organists,  and  singers,  accord- 
ing to  the  true  principles  of  sacred  art. 

IX. 

CONCLUSION 

29.  Finally,  it  is  recommended  to  choir-masters,  singers, 
members  of  the  clergy,  superiors  of  seminaries,  ecclesiastical 
institutions,  and  religious  communities,  parish  priests,  and 
rectors  of  churches,  canons  of  collegiate  churches  and  cathedrals, 
and,  above  all,  to  the  diocesan  ordinaries  to  favour  with  all  zeal 
these  prudent  reforms,  long  desired  and  demanded  with  united 
voice  by  all  ;  so  that  the  authority  of  the  Church,  which  herself 
has  repeatedly  proposed  them,  and  now  inculcates  them,  may 
not  fall  into  contempt. 

Given  from  Our  Apostolic  Palace  at  the  Vatican,  on  the 
day  of  the  Virgin  and  Martyr,  St.  Cecilia,  November  22,  1903, 
in  the  first  year  of  Our  Pontificate. 

PIUS  X.,  POPE. 

PAPAL  LETTER  TO  THE  CARDINAL  VICAR  OF  ROME 

The  carrying  out  of  the  above  regulations  for  the  restoration 
of  sacred  music  is  laid  upon  Cardinal  Respighi,  Vicar-General 
of  Rome,  in  the  following  letter  from  His  Holiness  : — 

Lord  Cardinal, — The  desire  to  see  flourish  again  in  all  places 
the  decorum  and  the  dignity  and  holiness  of  the  liturgical  func- 
tions has  determined  Us  to  make  known  by  a  special  writing 


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171 


under  Our  own  hand  Our  will  with  regard  to  the  sacred  music 
which  is  largely  employed  in  the  service  of  public  worship.  We 
cherish  the  hope  that  all  will  second  Us  in  this  desired  restoration, 
and  not  merely  with  that  blind  submission,  always  laudable 
though  it  be,  which  is  accorded  out  of  a  pure  spirit  of  obedience 
to  commands  that  are  onerous  and  contrary  to  one's  own  manner 
of  thinking  and  feeling,  but  with  that  alacrity  of  will  which  springs 
from  the  intimate  persuasion  of  having  to  do  so  on  grounds  duly 
weighed,  clear,  evident,  and  beyond  question. 

Even  a  little  reflection  on  the  end  for  which  art  is  admitted 
to  the  service  of  public  worship,  and  on  the  supreme  fitness  of 
offering  to  the  Lord  only  things  in  themselves  good,  and  where 
possible,  excellent,  will  at  once  serve  to  show  that  the  prescrip- 
tions of  the  Church  regarding  sacred  music  are  but  the  immediate 
application  of  those  two  fundamental  principles.  When  the 
clergy  and  choirmasters  are  penetrated  with  them,  good  sacred 
music  flourishes  spontaneously,  as  has  been  constantly  observed, 
and  continues  to  be  observed  in  a  great  many  places  ;  when  on 
the  contrary  those  principles  are  neglected,  neither  prayers, 
admonitions,  severe  and  repeated  orders  nor  threats  of  canonical 
penalties  suffice  to  effect  any  change  ;  for  passion,  and  when  not 
passion  a  shameful  and  inexcusable  ignorance,  always  finds  a 
means  of  eluding  the  will  of  the  Church,  and  continuing  for  years 
in  the  same  reprehensible  way. 

This  alacrity  of  will  We  look  for  in  a  very  special  way 
among  the  clergy  and  faithful  of  this  Our  beloved  City  of  Rome, 
centre  of  Cfu-istendom  and  the  seat  of  the  Supreme  Authority 
of  the  Church.  Indeed  it  would  seem  but  natural  that  none 
should  more  deeply  feel  the  influx  of  Our  word  than  those  who 
hear  it  directly  from  Our  mouth,  and  that  the  example  of  loving 
and  filial  submission  to  Our  fatherly  invitations  should  be  given 
with  greater  solicitude  by  none  more  than  by  that  first  and  most 
noble  portion  of  the  flock  of  Christ,  the  Church  of  Rome,  which 
has  been  specially  entrusted  to  Our  pastoral  care  as  Bishop. 
Besides,  this  example  is  to  be  given  in  the  sight  of  the  whole 
world.  Bishops  and  the  faithful  are  continually  coming  here 
from  all  parts  to  honour  the  Vicar  of  Christ  and  to  renew  their 
spirit  by  visiting  our  venerable  basilicas  and  the  tombs  of  the 
martyrs,  and  by  assisting  with  redoubled  fervour  at  the  solemni- 
ties which  are  here  celebrated  with  all  pomp  and  splendour 
throughout  the  year.    '  Opiamus  ne  moribus  nostris  offensi 


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THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


receiant'  said  Our  Petdecessor  Benedict  XIV.  in  his  own  time 
in  his  Encychcal  Letter  Annus  qui,  speaking  of  this  very  subject 
of  sacred  music  :  '  We  desire  that  they  may  not  return  to  their 
own  countries  scandahsed  by  our  customs.'  And  farther  on, 
toucliing  on  the  abuse  of  instruments  which  then  prevailed,  the 
same  Pontiff  said :  '  What  opinion  will  be  formed  of  us  by  those 
who,  coming  from  countries  in  which  instruments  are  not  used 
in  church,  hear  them  in  our  churches,  just  as  they  might  in 
theatres  and  other  profane  places  They  will  come,  too,  from 
places  and  countries  where  there  is  singing  and  music  in  the 
churches  of  the  same  kind  as  in  ours.  But  if  they  are  persons 
of  sound  judgment,  they  must  be  grieved  not  to  find  in  our 
music  that  remedy  for  the  evil  in  their  own  churches  which  they 
came  hither  to  seek.'  In  other  times  the  contradiction  between 
the  music  usually  executed  in  the  churches  and  the  ecclesiastical 
laws  and  prescriptions  was,  perhaps,  far  less  noticeable,  and  the 
scandal  caused  by  this  contradiction  was  doubtless  more  circum- 
scribed, precisely  because  the  evil  was  more  widely  diffused  and 
general.  But  now  that  so  much  study  has  been  employed  by 
distinguished  men  in  illustratmg  the  liturgy  and  the  art  used  in 
the  service  of  public  worship,  that  such  consoling,  and  not  un- 
frequently,  such  splendid  results  have  been  obtained  in  so  many 
churches  throughout  the  world  in  the  restoration  of  sacred  music, 
notwithstanding  the  very  serious  difficulties  that  had  to  be  faced, 
and  that  have  been  happily  overcome  ;  now,  in  fine,  that  the 
necessity  of  a  complete  change  in  the  order  of  things  has  come 
to  be  universally  appreciated,  every  abuse  in  this  matter  becomes 
intolerable,  and  must  be  removed. 

You,  therefore.  Lord  Cardinal,  in  your  high  office  as  Our 
Vicar  in  Rome  for  spiritual  matters,  will,  We  are  sure,  exert 
yourself  with  the  gentleness  that  is  characteristic  of  you,  but 
with  equal  firmness,  to  the  end  that  the  music  executed  in  the 
churches  and  chapels  of  the  secular  and  regular  clergy  of  this 
City  may  be  in  entire  harmony  with  Our  instructions.  There 
is  much  to  be  corrected  or  removed  in  the  chants  of  the  Mass, 
of  the  Litany  of  Loreto,  of  the  Eucharistic  hymns,  but  that 
which  needs  a  thorough  renewal  is  the  singing  of  the  Vespers  of 
the  feasts  celebrated  in  the  different  churches  and  basilicas. 
The  liturgical  prescriptions  of  the  Cceremonialc  Episcoporum  and 
the  beautiful  musical  traditions  of  the  classical  Roman  School 
are  no  longer  to  be  found.    For  the  devout  psalmody  of  the 


DOCUMENTS 


clergy,  in  which  the  people  also  used  to  join,  there  have  been 
substituted  interminable  musical  compositions  on  the  words  of 
the  psalms,  all  of  them  modelled  on  old  theatrical  works,  and 
most  of  them  of  such  meagre  artistic  value  that  they  would  not 
be  tolerated  for  a  moment  even  in  second-rate  concerts.  Certain 
it  is  tliat  Christian  piety  and  devotion  are  not  promoted  by  them  ; 
the  curiosity  of  some  of  the  less  intelligent  is  fed,  but  the  majority 
disgusted  and  scandalised,  wonder  how  it  is  that  such  an  abuse 
can  still  survive.  We  therefore  wish  the  cause  to  be  completely 
extiq:)ated,  and  that  the  solemnity  of  Vespers  should  be  cele- 
brated according  to  the  liturgical  rules  indicated  by  Us.  The 
Patriarchal  basilicas  will  lead  the  way  by  the  example  of  solicitous 
care  and  enlightened  zeal  of  the  Lords  Cardinals  who  preside  over 
them,  and  with  these  will  vie  especially  the  minor  basilicas,  and 
the  collegiate  and  parochial  churches,  as  well  as  the  churches 
and  chapels  of  the  religious  orders.  And  do  you,  Lord  Cardinal, 
neither  grant  indulgence  nor  concede  delays.  The  difficulty  is 
not  diminished  but  rather  augumented  by  postponement,  and 
since  the  thing  is  to  be  done  let  it  be  done  immediately  and  reso- 
lutely. Let  all  have  confidence  in  Us  and  in  Our  word,  with 
which  heavenly  grace  and  blessing  are  united.  At  first  the 
novelty  will  produce  some  wonder  among  individuals  ;  here  and 
there  a  leader  or  director  of  a  choir  may  find  himself  somewhat 
unprepared  ;  but  little  by  little  things  will  right  themselves,  and 
in  the  perfect  harmony  between  the  music  with  the  liturgical 
rules  and  the  nature  of  the  psalmody  all  will  discern  a  beauty 
and  a  goodness  which  have  perhaps  never  before  been  ol^served. 
The  Vesper  service  will  indeed  be  notably  shortended.  But  if 
the  rectors  of  the  churches  desire  on  a  special  occasion  to  prolong 
the  function  somewhat,  in  order  to  detain  the  people  who  are 
wont  so  laudably  to  go  in  the  evening  to  the  particular  church 
where  the  feast  is  being  celebrated,  there  is  nothing  to  hinder 
them — nay,  it  will  rather  be  so  much  gained  for  the  piety  and 
edification  of  the  faithful — if  they  have  a  suitable  sermon  after 
the  Vespers,  closed  with  the  Solemn  Benediction  of  the  Most 
Holy  Sacrament. 

Finally,  We  desire  that  sacred  music  be  cultivated  with 
special  care  and  in  the  proper  way  in  all  the  seminaries  and 
ecclesiastical  colleges  of  Rome,  in  which  such  a  large  and  choice 
body  of  young  clerics  from  all  parts  of  the  world  are  being 
educated  in  the  sacred  sciences  and  in  the  ecclesiastical  spirit. 


174  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


We  know,  and  We  are  greatly  comforted  by  the  knowledge,  that 
in  some  institutions  sacred  music  is  in  such  a  flourishing  condi- 
tion that  it  may  serve  as  a  model  for  others.    But  there  are  some 
seminaries  and  Colleges  which  leave  much  to  be  desired  owing  to 
the  carelessness  of  the  superiors,  or  the  want  of  capacity  and 
the  imperfect  taste  of  the  persons  to  whom  the  teaching  of  the 
chant  and  the  direction  of  the  sacred  music  is  entrusted.  You, 
Lord  Cardinal,  will  be  good  enough  to  provide  a  remedy  for  this 
also  with  solicitude,  by  insisting  especially  that  the  Gregorian 
Chant,  according  to  the  prescriptions  of  the  Council  of  Trent 
and  of  innumerable  other  councils,  provincial  and  diocesan  in  all 
parts  of  the  world,  be  studied  with  particular  diligence,  and  be 
as  a  rule  preferred  in  the  public  and  private  functions  of  the 
institute.    It  is  true  that  in  other  times  the  Gregorian  Chant 
was  known  to  most  only  through  books  which  were  incorrect, 
vitiated  and  curtailed.    But  the  accurate  and  prolonged  study 
that  has  been  given  to  it  by  illustrious  men  who  have  done  a 
great  service  to  sacred  art  has  changed  the  face  of  things.  The 
Gregorian  Chant  restored  in  such  a  satisfactory  way  to  its  early 
puritj',  as  it  was  handed  down  by  the  fathers  and  is  found  in  the 
codices  of  the  various  churches,  is  sweet,  soft,  easy  to  learn  and 
of  a  beauty  so  fresh  and  full  of  surprises  that  wherever  it  has  been 
introduced  it  has  never  failed  to  excite  real  enthusiasm  in  the 
youthful  singers.    Now,  when  delight  enters  into  the  fulfilment 
of  duty,  everything  is  done  with  greater  alacrity  and  with  more 
lasting  fruit.    It  is  Our  will,  therefore,  that  in  all  seminaries 
and  colleges  in  this  fostering  city  there  be  introduced  once  more 
the  most  ancient  Roman  Chant  which  used  to  resound  in  our 
churches  and  basilicas  and  which  formed  the  delight  of  past 
generations  in  the  fairest  days  of  Christian  piety.    And  as  in 
former  times  that  chant  was  spread  abroad  over  the  whole 
Western  Church  from  Rome,  so  we  desire  that  Our  young  clerics, 
educated  under  Our  own  eyes,  may  carry  it  with  them  and  diffuse 
it  again  in  their  own  dioceses  when  they  return  thither  as  priests 
to  work  for  the  glory  of  God.    We  are  overjoj^ed  to  be  able  to 
give  these  regulations  at  a  time  when  we  are  about  to  celebrate 
the  13th  centenary  of  the  death  of  the  glorious  and  incompar- 
able Pontiff   St.  Gregory  the  Great,  to  whom  an  ecclesiastical 
tradition  dating  back  many  centuries  has  attributed  the  com- 
position of  these  sacred  melodies  and  from  whom  they  have 
derived  their  name.    Let  Our  dearly-beloved  youths  exercise 


DOCUMENTS 


175 


themselves  in  them,  for  it  will  be  sweet  to  Us  to  hear  them  when, 
as  We  have  been  told  will  be  the  case,  they  will  assemble  at  the 
coming  centenary  celebrations  round  the  tomb  of  the  Holy  Pontiff 
in  the  Vatican  Basilica  during  the  sacred  liturgy  which,  please 
God,  will  be  celebrated  by  Us  on  that  auspicious  occasion. 

Meanwhile  as  a  pledge  of  Our  particular  benevolence,  receive, 
Lord  Cardinal,  the  Apostolic  Benediction  which  from  the  bottom 
of  Our  heart  We  impart  to  you,  to  the  Clergy,  and  to  all  Our  most 
beloved  people. 

From  the  Vatican  on  the  Feast  of  the  Immaculate  Conception 
of  1903. 

PIUS  X.,  POPE. 

•MOTU  PROPRIC  OF  POPE  PltTS  X   ON  CATHOLIC  ACTION 
PIUS  X.,  POPE 

In  our  first  Encyclical  to  the  Bishops  of  the  World,  in  which 
we  echo  all  that  Our  glorious  Predecessors  had  laid  down  con- 
cerning the  Catholic  action  of  the  laity.  We  declared  that  this 
action  was  deserving  of  the  highest  praise,  and  was  indeed 
necessary  in  the  present  condition  of  the  Church  and  of  society. 
And  We  cannot  but  warmly  praise  the  zeal  shown  by  so  many 
illustrious  personages  who  have  for  a  long  time  dedicated  them- 
selves to  this  glorious  task,  and  the  ardour  of  so  many  brilliant 
young  people  who  have  eagerly  hastened  to  lend  their  aid  in  the 
same.  The  nineteenth  Catholic  Congress  lately  held  at  Bologna, 
and  by  Us  promoted  and  encouraged,  has  sufficiently  proved  to 
all  the  vigour  of  the  Catholic  forces  and  what  useful  and  salutary 
results  may  be  obtained  among  a  population  of  believers,  when 
this  action  is  well  governed  and  disciplined,  and  when  unity  of 
thought,  sentiment  and  action  prevail  among  those  who  take 
part  in  it. 

But  We  are  very  sorry  to  find  that  certain  differences  which 
arose  in  the  midst  of  them  have  produced  discussions  unfortu- 
nately too  vivacious,  which,  if  not  dispelled  in  time,  might  serve 
to  divide  those  forces  of  which  We  have  spoken,  and  render  them 
less  efficacious.  Before  the  Congress  We  recommended  above 
all  things  unity  and  harmony,  in  order  that  it  might  be  possible 
to  lay  down  by  common  accord  the  general  lines  for  the  practical 
working  of  the  Catholic  movement,  and  We  cannot,  therefore, 


176  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


be  silent  now.  And  since  divergencies  of  view  in  matters  of 
practice  have  commonly  their  origin  in  the  domain  of  theory, 
and  indeed  necessarily  find  their  fulcrum  in  the  latter,  it  is 
necessary  to  define  clearly  the  principles  on  which  the  entire 
Catholic  movement  must  be  based. 

Our  illustrious  Predecessor,  Leo  XIII.  of  holy  memory,  traced 
out  luminously  the  rules  that  must  be  followed  in  the  Christian 
movement  among  the  people  in  the  great  Encyclicals  Quod 
Afostolici  Muneris  of  December  28,  1878,  Rerum  Novamm  of 
May  15,  1891,  and  Graves  de  communi  of  January  18,  1901,  and 
further  in  a  particular  instruction  emanating  from  the  Sacred 
Congregation  for  Extraordinary  Ecclesiastical  Affairs  of  January 
27,  1902. 

And  We,  reahsing,  like  Our  Predecessor  before  Us,  the  great 
need  that  the  Christian  movement  among  the  people  be  rightly 
governed  and  conducted,  desire  to  have  those  most  prudent  rules 
exactly  and  completely  fulfilled,  and  to  provide  that  nobody 
may  dare  to  depart  from  them  in  the  smallest  particulars.  Hence, 
to  keep  them  more  vividly  present  before  people's  minds,  We 
have  deemed  it  well  to  summarise  them  in  the  following  articles, 
which  will  constitute  the  fundamental  plan  of  the  Catholic 
popular  movement. 

FUNDAMENTAL  REGULATIONS 

I.  Human  society,  as  established  by  God,  is  composed  of 
unequal  elements,  just  as  the  different  parts  of  the  human  body 
are  unequal — to  make  them  all  equal  is  impossible,  and  would 
mean  the  destruction  of  human  society  (Encyclical,  Qtiod  Apos- 
tolici  Muneris). 

II.  The  equality  existing  among  the  various  social  members 
consists  only  in  this  :  that  all  men  have  their  origin  in  God  the 
Creator,  have  been  redeemed  by  Jesus  Christ,  and  are  to  be 
judged  and  rewarded  or  punished  by  God  exactly  according  to 
their  merits  or  demerits  (Encyclical,  Quod  Afostolici  Muneris). 

III.  Hence  it  follows  that  there  are,  according  to  the  ordin- 
ance of  God,  in  human  society  princes  and  subjects,  masters  and 
proletariat,  rich  and  poor,  learned  and  ignorant,  nobles  and 
plebeians,  all  of  whom,  united  in  the  bonds  of  love,  are  to  help 
one  another  to  attain  their  last  end  in  heaven,  and  their  material 
and  moral  welfare  here  on  earth  (End.,  Qtiod  Apostolici  Muneris). 


DOCUMENTS 


IV.  Of  the  goods  of  the  earth  man  has  not  merely  the  use, 
hke  the  brute  creation,  but  he  has  also  the  right  of  permanent 
proprietorship — and  not  merely  of  those  things  which  are  con- 
sumed by  use,  but  also  of  those  which  are  not  consumed  by  use 
(Encyclical,  Reriim  Novarum). 

V.  The  right  of  private  property,  the  fruit  of  labour  or 
industry,  or  of  cession  or  danation  by  others,  is  an  incontrovert- 
ible natural  right  ;  and  everybody  can  dispose  reasonably  of 
such  property  as  he  thinks  fit  (Encyclical,  Rerum  Novarum). 

VI.  To  heal  the  breach  between  the  rich  and  the  poor,  it  is 
necessary  to  distinguish  between  justice  and  charity.  There 
can  be  no  claim  for  redress  except  when  justice  is  violated 
(Encyclical,  Rerum  Novarum). 

OBLIGATIONS  OF  JUSTICE  ..^ 

VII.  The  following  are  obligations  of  justice  binding  on  the 
proletariat  and  the  working  man  :  To  perform  fully  and  faithfully 
the  work  which  has  been  freely  and,  according  to  equity,  agreed 
upon  ;  not  to  injure  the  property  or  outrage  the  person  of  masters  ; 
even  in  defence  of  their  own  rights  to  abstain  from  acts  of  viol- 
ence, and  never  to  make  mutiny  of  their  defence  (Encyclical, 
Rerum  Novarum). 

VIII.  The  following  are  obligations  of  justice  binding  on 
capitalists  :  To  pay  just  wages  to  their  workmen  ;  not  to  injure 
their  just  savings  by  violence  or  fraud,  or  by  overt  or  covert 
usuries  ;  not  to  expose  them  to  corrupting  seductions  and  danger 
of  scandal  ;  not  to  alienate  them  from  the  spirit  of  family  life 
and  from  love  of  economy  ;  not  to  impose  on  them  labour  beyond 
their  strength,  or  unsuitable  for  their  age  or  sex  (Encyclical, 
Rerum  Novarum). 

IX.  It  is  an  obligation  for  the  rich  and  for  those  that  own 
property  to  succour  the  poor  and  the  indigent,  according  to  the 
precepts  of  the  Gospel.  This  obligation  is  so  grave  that  on  the 
Day  of  Judgment  special  account  will  be  demanded  of  its  fulfil- 
ment, as  Christ  Himself  has  said  (Matthew  xxv.)  (Encyclical, 
Rerum  Novarum). 

X.  The  poor  should  not  be  ashamed  of  their  poverty,  nor 
disdain  the  charity  of  the  rich,  for  they  should  have  especially 
m  view  Jesus  the  Redeemer,  who,  though  He  might  have  been 
bom  in  riches,  made  Hmself  poor  in  order  that  He  might  be  one 

VOL.  XV.  ,  M 


178 


THE   IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


poverty  and  enrich  it  with  merits  beyond  price  for  heaven 
(Encychcal,  Rerum  Novarum). 

XI.  For  the  settlement  of  the  social  question  much  can  be 
done  by  the  capitalists  and  workers  themselves,  by  means  of 
institutions  designed  to  provide  timely  aid  for  the  needy,  and  to 
bring  together  and  unite  mutually  the  two  classes.  Among 
these  institutions  are  mutual  aid  societies,  various  kinds  of 
private  insurance  societies,  orphanages  for  the  young,  and, 
above  all  associations  among  the  different  trades  and  professions 
(Encyclical,  Reniin  Novarum). 

■      CHRISTIAN  DEMOCRACY. 

XII.  This  end  is  especially  aimed  at  by  the  movement  of 
Christian  Popular  Action  of  Christian  Democracy  in  its  many 
and  varied  branches.  But  Christian  Democracy  must  be  taken  in 
the  sense  already  authoritatively  defined.  Totally  different  from 
the  movement  known  as  Social  Democracy,  it  has  for  basis  the 
principles  of  Catholic  faith  and  morals — especially  the  principle 
of  not  injuring  in  any  way  the  inviolable  right  of  private  pro- 
perty (Encyclical,  Graves  de  Communi). 

XIII.  Moreover,  Christian  Democracy  must  have  nothing  to 
do  with  politics,  and  never  be  made  to  serve  political  ends  or 
parties  ;  this  is  not  its  field  ;  but  it  must  be  a  beneficent  move- 
ment for  the  people,  and  founded  on  the  law  of  nature  and  the 
precepts  of  the  Gospel  (Encyclical,  Graves  de  Communi,  Instruc- 
tions of  the  S.  Con.  for  E.  E.  Affairs). 

Christian  Democrats  in  Italy  must  abstain  from  participating 
in  any  political  action — this  is  under  present  circumstances 
forbidden  to  every  Catholic  for  reasons  of  the  highest  order 
(Instruction). 

XIV.  In  performing  its  functions  Christian  Democracy  is 
bound  most  strictly  to  depend  upon  ecclesiastical  authority, 
and  to  offer  full  submission  and  obedience  to  the  bishops  and 
to  those  who  represent  them.  There  is  no  meritorious  zeal  or 
sincere  piety  in  enterprises,  however  beautiful  and  good  in 
themselves,  when  they  are  not  approved  by  the  Pastor  (Ency- 
clical, Graves  de  Communi). 

XV.  In  order  that  the  Christian  Democratic  movement  in 
Italy  may  be  united  in  its  efforts,  it  must  be  under  the  direction 
of  the  Association  of  Catholic  Congresses  and  Committees,  which, 
during  many  years  of  fruitful  labour,  has  deserved  so  well  of 
Holy  Church,  and  to  which  Pius  IX.  and  Leo  XIII. ,  of  holy 


DOCUMENTS 


179 


memory,  entrusted  the  charge  of  directing  the  whole  Cathohc 
movement,  always,  ot  course,  under  the  auspices  and  guidance 
ot  the  bishops  (Encyclical,  Graves  de  Commimi). 

CATHOLIC  WRITERS 

XVI.  Catholic  writers  must,  in  all  that  touches  religious 
interests  and  the  action  of  the  Church  in  society,  subject  them- 
selves entirely  in  intellect  and  will,  like  the  rest  of  the  faithful, 
to  their  bishops  and  to  the  Roman  Pontiff.  They  must,  above 
all,  take  care  not  to  anticipate  the  judgments  of  the  Holy  See 
in  this  important  matter  (Instruction). 

XVII.  Christian  Democratic  writers  must,  like  all  other 
Catholic  writers,  submit  to  the  previous  examination  of  the 
ordinary  all  writings  which  concern  religion.  Christian  morals, 
and  natural  ethics,  by  virtue  of  the  Constitution  Oificiorum  et 
munermn  (Art.  41).  By  the  same  Constitution  ecclesiastics 
must  obtain  the  previous  consent  of  the  ordinary  for  the  pub- 
lication of  writings  of  a  merely  technical  character  (Instruction). 

XVIII.  They  must,  moreover,  make  every  effort  and  every 
sacrifice  to  ensure  that  charity  and  concord  may  reign  among 
them.  When  causes  of  disagreement  arise,  they  should,  instead 
of  printing  anything  on  the  matter  in  the  papers,  refer  it  to  the 
ecclesiastical  authority,  which  will  then  act  with  justice.  And 
when  taken  to  task  by  the  ecclesiastical  authority,  let  them  obey 
promptly  without  tergiversation  or  giving  vent  to  public  com- 
plaints— the  right  of  appeal  to  a  higher  authority  being  under- 
stood when  the  case  requires  it,  and  to  be  made  in  the  right  way 
(Instruction). 

XIX.  Finally,  let  Catholic  writers  take  care,  when  defending 
the  cause  of  the  proletariat  and  the  poor,  not  to  use  language 
calculated  to  inspire  aversion  among  the  people  for  the  upper 
classes  of  society.  Let  them  refrain  from  speaking  of  redress 
and  justice  when  the  matter  comes  within  the  domain  of  charity 
only,  as  has  been  explained  above.  Let  them  remmeber  that 
Jesus  Christ  endeavoured  to  unite  all  men  in  the  bond  of  mutual 
love,  which  is  the  perfection  of  justice,  and  which  carries  with 
it  the  obligation  of  working  for  the  welfare  of  one  another 
(Instruction). 

The  foregoing  fundamental  rules  We  of  Our  own  initiative 
and  with  certain  knowledge  do  renew  by  Our  apostohc  authority 
in  aU  their  parts,  and  We  do  ordain  that  they  be  transmitted 
to  all  Catholic  Committees,  Societies,  and  Unions  of  every  kind. 


l8o  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


All  these  societies  are  to  keep  them  exposed  in  their  rooms  and 
to  have  them  read  frequently  at  their  meetings.  We  ordain, 
moreover,  that  Catholic  papers  publish  them  in  their  entirety 
and  make  declaration  of  their  observance  of  them — and,  in  fact, 
observe  them,  religiously,  failing  to  do  this  they  are  to  be  gravely 
admonished,  and  if  they  do  not  then  amend  let  them  be  inter- 
dicted by  ecclesiastical  authority. 

But  as  words  and  energetic  action  are  of  no  avail  unless 
preceded,  accompanied  and  followed  constantly  by  example, 
the  necessary  characteristic  which  should  shine  forth  in  all 
the  members  of  every  CathoHc  association  is  that  of  openly, 
manifesting  their  faith  by  the  holiness  of  their  lives,  by  the 
spotlessness  of  their  morals,  and  by  the  scrupulous  observance 
of  the  laws  of  God  and  of  the  Church.  And  this  because  it  is 
the  duty  of  every  Christian,  and  also  in  order  that  who  stands 
against  us  may  blush,  having  nothing  evil  to  say  of  us  (Tit.  ii.  8). 

From  this  solicitude  of  Ours  for  the  common  good  of  Catliolic 
action,  especially  in  Italy,  We  hope,  through  the  blessing  of  God, 
to  reap  abundant  and  happy  fruits. 

Given  at  Rome,  at  St.  Peter's,  on  December  i8,  1903,  in  the 
first  year  of  Our  Pontificate.  .  ... 

PIUS  X.,  POPE. 

POPE  PITTS  X.  AND  THE  CECILIA  SOCIETY 

BREVE  APOSTOLICUM  SOCIETATEM  CAECILIANAM  CONCERNENS 

pivs  pp.  X. 

Dilecte  Fill  Noster,  salutem  et  Apostolicam  benedictionem. 
Societatem  Caecilianam  iamdudum  apud  vos  ex  instituto  id 
agentem,  ut  cantus  gregoriani  scientiam  peritiamque  in  usum 
sacrorum  late  promoveat,  merito  tu  quidem  ac  iure  Nobis  com- 
mendasti.  Dignum  enim  omni  commendationc  studium  est 
hominum,  in  re  elaborantium,  quae  quum  ad  sanctissimas  caere- 
monias,  ea  qua  par  est  religione,  peragendas  conferat,  magnopere 
ad  fovendam  pietatem  publicam  valet.  Ex  istorum  autem  a 
S.  Caecilia  sodalium  soUertia  industriaque  fructus  evenire,  ubi- 
cumque  germanicus  sermo  obtinet,  laetos  atque  uberes,  quam- 
quam  non  ignotum  Nobis  erat,  iucundum  fuit  ex  tuis  quoque 
litteris  cognoscere.  Nominatim  didicimus  libenter,  ipsorum 
operam  in  finibus  dioecesis  tuae  proficere  et  valere  plurimum. 
Itaque  non  potest  esse  dubium,  quin  Caeciliana  ista  Societas 
aeque  probetur  Nobis,  ac  decessoribus  Nostris  Pio  IX  et  Leoni 


DOCUMENTS 


l8l 


XIII  fel.  rec.  probaretur  :  nec  Nos  minus  habemus  certum,  fore 
ut  ilia  novis  praescriptionibus,  quas  in  hoc  genere  dandas  cen- 
sueriinus.  eiideni  voluntate  et  Me  obsequatur,  qua  obsequi  Sedis 
Apostolicae  mandatis  consuevit.  Eidem  interea  non  exiguas  nec 
vulgares  laudes,  quas  meretur,  Nostro  etiam  nomine  tribuas, 
volumus  :  simulque  divinorum  munerum  auspicem  ac  benevo- 
lentiae  Nostrae  testem  babe  tibi,  dilecte  Fili  Noster.  Apostolicam 
benedictionem,  quam  laudate  quoque  Societati  universae  et 
clero  populoque  tuis  curis  credito  peramanter  in  Domino  im- 
pertimus. 

Datum  Romae  apud  S.  Petrum  die  i  Decembris  MDCCCCIII, 
Pontificatus  Nostri  Anno  prime. 

PIUS  PP.  X. 

VALIDITY  OF  RESCRIPTS  OF  THE  HOLY  SEE 

E  SACRA  POENITENTIARIA 

RESCRIPTA  MINORA  S.  SEDIS,  LICET  AB  EXCOMMUNICATO  IMPETRATA, 
VALIDA  SUNT  IN  FORO  CONSCIENTIAE  ^ 

Tizio  sacerdote  nel  tempo  in  cui  era  innodato  da  scomunica 
riservata  occulta,  da  cui  otterine  poscia  I'assoluzione,  chiedeva 
ed  otteneva  dalle  S.  Rom.  Congregazioni  alcune  grazie  personali, 
chc  gli  furono  concesse  con  speciali  Rescritti  ;  cioe  dalla  S.  Con- 
gregazione  dell'Indice  la  facolta  di  leggere  i  libri  proibiti — dal 
S.  Uffizio  la  facolti,  ossia  la  dispensa  dal  digiuno — -dalla  S.  Con- 
gregazione  dalle  Indulgenze  la  facolta  di  benedire  corone  ed  altri 
oggetti  con  applicazione  di  Indulgenze — dalla  S.  Congregazione 
de'  Riti  di  benedire  S.  Suppellettili  ed  altro. 

Ma  avendo  ora  rilevato  che  gli  scomunicati  sono  incapaci 
di  impetrare  grazie  Pontilicie,  trovasi  in  molte  angustie  nel 
dubbio  se  possa  validamente  usare  delle  facolta  e  grazie  di  cui 
sopra,  per  cui  col  mio  mezzo  chiede  : 

(a)  se  abbiano  a  ritenersi  validi  i  Rescritti  di  cui  sopra 
ottenuti  da  Tizio,  quando  trovavasi  vincolato  da  scomunica, 

'  Titius  sacerdos,  tempore  quo  erat  innodatus  excommunicatione  reser- 
vata  occulta,  .  .  .  petiit  et  obtinuit  a  S.  R.  Congregationibus  nonnullas 
gratias  privatas,  ipsi  speciali  Rescripto  concessas  ;  id  est  :  a  S.  C.  Indicis 
facultatem  legendi  libros  prohibitos — a  S.  Officio  dispensationem  a  ieiuaio — a 
S.  C.  Indulgentiarum  facultatem  benedicendi  coronas  etc  oum  applicatione 
Indulgentiarum — a  S.  C.  Rituum  benedicendi  sacras  supellectiles  etc.  Audiens 
autem  excommunicatos  incapaces  esse  ad  impetrandas  gratias  Pontificias,  in 
multis  angustiis  versatur,  dubitans  utrum  possit  nec  ne  uti  facultatibus  supra- 
dictis,  undequaerit:  (a)  utrum  pro  validis  habenda  sint  Rescripta  supradicta 
a  Titio  obtenta  quum  erat  excommunicatis  vinculo  irretitus  ?  (0)  in  casu 
negativo  quomodo  se  genere  debeat  Titius  ne  manifestetur  causa  invaliditatis 
praedictorum  Rescriptorum  ? 


l82  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


(b)  e  nel  caso  negative  come  abbia  a  contenersi  Tizio  per  non 
manifestare  la  causa  della  invalidita  degli  ottenuti  Rescritti. 

Sacra  Poenitentiaria,  mature  consideratis  expositis,  rescribit  : 
Orator  super  praemissis  acquiescat.  Pro  foro  conscientiae 
tantum. 

Datum  Romae,  ex  Sacra  Poenitentiaria  die  g  Septembris 
1898. 

A.  Carcani,  S.P.  Reg. 
R.  Celli,  S.P.  Subst. 

INDITLGENCE   FOR    THE    LITTLE  OFFICE  OF    THE  BLESSED 

VIRaiN 

E    SACRA   CONGREGATIONE  INDULGENTIARUM 

URBIS  ET  ORBIS— DECRETUM 

QUO  INDULGENTIAE  RECITATIONI  LATINAE  PARVI  OFFICII  B.  M.  V. 
ADNEXAE,  AD  EIUSDEM  VULGAREM  RECITATIONEM  PRIVATAM 
EXTENDUNTUR 

Quamvis  S.  C.  Indulgentiis  Sacrisque  Reliquiis  praeposita  in 
una  Sebenicen.  sub  die  13  Septembris  1888,  expresse  edixerit, 
non  expedire  ut  extenderentur  ad  recitationem  parvi  Officii  B. 
Mariae  Virginis,  in  quodcumque  vulgare  idioma  translati,  Indul- 
gentiae  a  RR.  PP.  adnexae  recitationi  eiusdem  Officii,  uti  illud 
prostat  in  fine  Breviarii  Romani ;  nihilominus  instantius  ab  hac 
eadem  S.  Congregatione  expostulatum  est,  ut  praefatam  Indul- 
gentiarum  extensionem  concedere  dignaretur,  hisce  potissimum 
de  causis,  quod  hac  nostra  aetate  latini  sermonis  quamplurimi 
sint  omnino  ignari,  ususque  in  pluribus  catholici  Orbis  regionibus 
iam  inoleverit,  hoc  officium  recitandi  hngua  vernacula  expressum, 
et  admodum  difficile  foret  fideles  ab  hoc  usu  retrahere. 

Quare  haec  S.  C.  sequens  postulatum  denuo  examinandum 
duxit  : 

'  An,  non  obstante  Decreto  in  una  Sebenicen.,  die  13  Septembri 
1888,  expediat  Indulgentias  a  RR.  PP.  concessas  Christifidelibus 
recitantibus  parvum  Officium  B.  Mariae  Virginis,  uti  extat  in 
fine  Breviarii  Romani,  extendere  ad  illos,  qui  idem  Officium  i"eci- 
taverint  in  aliam  linguam  translatum,  praevia  recognitione  et 
approbatione  Ordinarii  loci,  ubi  vulgaris  est  lingua  ?  ' 

Et  Emi.  Patres  ad  Vaticanum  coadunati  die  18  Augusti  1903 
responderunt^: 

'-^Affirmative  pro  privata  tantum  recitatione. 
I:.  SSmus.  vero  Dnus.  Noster  Pius  PP.  X  in  Audentia  habita  die 
28  Augusti  1903  ab^infrascripto  Card.  Praefecto  sententiam 


« 

DOCUMENTS  183 


Emorum.  Patrum  approbavit,  et  Indulgentiarum  petitam  exten- 
sionem  benigne  concessit. 

Datum  Romae  ex  Secretaria  eiusdem  S.  Congregationis  die 
28  Augusti  1903. 

A.  Card.  Tripepi,  Praefectus. 

L.  .i.  S. 

Pro  R.  P.  D.  Francisco  Sogaro,  Arch.  Amiden.,  Seer. 
losEPHUs  M.  Canonicus  Coselli,  Substit. 

DECBEKS  OF  THE  SACEED  CONGREGATION  OF  THE  INDEX. 

I 

DFXRETUM.     VARIA  DAMNANTUR  OPERA 

Feria  VI,  die  4  Decembris  1903. 

Sacra  Cong'reg'atio  Eminentissimorum  ac  Reverendissimorum 
Sanctae  Romanae  Ecclesiae  Cardlnaliuni  a  Sanclissimo  Domino 
Nostro  Pio  Papae  X,  Sanctaqae  Sede  Apostolica  Indici  librorum 
pravae  doctrinae,  eorumdemque  proscriplioni,  expurgationi  ac 
permissioni  in  uaiversa  christiana  republica  praepositorum  et 
deleg:atorum,  hal.Ita  m  Palatio  Apostolico  Vaticano,  die  4 
Decembris  1903,  damnavit  et  damnat,  proscripsit  proscribitque, 
atqiie  in  Indicem  librorum  prohibitorum  referri  mandavit  et 
mandat  quae  sequuntur  opera  : 

Cha  RLES  Denis,  Un  careme  apologeiique  sur  les  dogmes 
jondamentaux.    Paris,  1902. 

Chari.es  Denis,  L'Eglise  et  VEtat  ;  les  leqons  de  Vheure 
presente.    Paris,  1902. 

L'abbe  Georgel.  La  mature  ;  sn  deification  ;  sa  rehabilita- 
tion au  point  de  vue  intellectuel  et  aimant;  ses  destinies  ultimes. 
Oran,  1902-1903. 

Joseph  Olive.  Lettre  aux  membres  de  la  pieuse  et  divote 
association  du  Cmir  de  Jesus  et  de  N.-D.  des  sept  Douleiirs. 
Cette,  r 886- 1 903. 

P.  SiFFLET,  Decreto  S.  Congregationis,  edito  die  5  Martii 
1903,  quo  liber  ab  eo  conscriptus  notatus  et  in  Indicem  librorum 
prohibitorum  insertus  est,  laudabiliter  se  subiecit. 

Itaque  nemo  cuiuscumque  gradiis  et  conditionis  praedicta 
opera  damnata  atque  proscripta,  quocumque  loco  et  quocumque 
idiomate,  aut  in  posterum  edere,  aut  edita  legere  vel  retinere 
audeat,  sub  poenis  in  Tndice  librorum  vetitorum  indictis. 

Quibus  Sanctissimo  Domino  Nostro  Pio  Papae  X  per  me 


l84  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


infrascriptum  Secretarium  relatis,  Sanctita&  Sua  Decretum  pro- 
bavit,  et  promulgari  praecepit.    In  quorum  fidem,  etc. 
Datum  Romae,  die  4  Decembris,  1903. 

Andreas  Card.  Steinhuber,  Praef. 

Loco  <^  Sigilli. 

Fr.  Thomas  Esser,  Ord.  Praed.,  a  Secretis. 
Die  7  Decembris  1903,  ego  infrascriptus  Mag.  Cursorum 
testoir  s.upradictum  Decretum  aifixum  et  publicatum  fuisse  m 
Urbe. 

Henricus  Benaglia,  Mag.  Curs. 
II 

decretum. 

Feria  VI,  die  4  Decembris  1903. 
Sacra  Congregatio  Emiaentissimorum  ac  Reverendissimorum 
Sanctae  Romanae  Ecclesiae  Cardinalium  a  Sanctissimo  Domino 
Nostro  Pio  Papa  X,  Sanctaqae  Sede  Apostolica  Indici  librorum 
pravae  doctrinae,  eorumdemque  proscriptioni,  expurgationi  ac 
permission!  in  universa  christiana  republica  praepositorum  et 
delegatcrum,  habita  m  Palatio  Apostolico  Vaticano,  die  4 
Decembris  1903,  damnavit  et  damnat,  proscripsit  proscribitque, 
vel  alias  damnata  atque  proscripta  in  Indicem  librorum  pro- 
hibitorum  referri  mandavit  et  mandat  quae  sequuntur  opera: 

Albert  Houtin.  La  question  biblique  chez  les  catholiqiies 
de  France  au  XIX"^  siecle. 

Albert  Houtin.    Mes  difficnltes  avec  nion  eveque. 
Alfred  Loisy.   La  Religion  d'Lsrael.   Deer.  S.  Off.  fer,  IV, 
16  Dec.  1903. 

Alfred  Loisy.  L'EvangiJe  et  VEglise  dn. 
Alfred  Loisy.    Etudes  evangeliques.  do. 
Alfred  Loisy,  Autour  d\in  petit  livre.  do. 
Alfred  Loisy.  Le  qpatrieme  Evangile.  do. 
Itaquc  nemo,  etc. 
Quibuis  Sanctissimo  Domino  Nostro  PiO'  Papae  X  per  me 
infrascriptum  Secretarium  relatis,  Sanctita.^  Sua  Decretum  pro- 
bavit,  et  promulgari  praecepit.    In  quorum  fidem,  etc. 
Datum  Romae,  die  23  Decembris,  1903. 

Andreas  Card.  Steinhuber,  Praef. 

Loco  »!•  Sigilli. 

Fr.  Thomas  Esser,  Ord.  Praed.,  a  Secretis. 
Die  24  Dec.  1903,  ego  iinfrascriptus  Mag.  Cursorum  tester 
supradictum  Decretum  affixum  et  publicatum  fuisse  in  Urbe. 

Henricus  Benaglia,  Mag.  Curs. 


do. 
do. 
do. 
do. 


[    185  ] 


NOTICES  OF  BOOKS 

Die  Pentateuchfrage,  ihre  Geschichte  und  ihre 
Systeme.  By  Joseph  Kley.  Miinster :  Alphonsus- 
Buchhandlung,  1903.    239  pp.  8vo.    Price  4s.  6d. 

About  live  years  ago  the  Theological  Faculty  (Catholic)  in  the 
University  of  Tiibingen  offered  a  prize  for  the  best  historical 
ind  critical  essay  on  the  many  erroneous  theories  that  have  been 
broached  in  modern  times  regarding  the  origin  and  antiquity  of 
Genesis.  The  prize  was  won  by  Kley,  and  the  work  just  pub- 
lished represents  his  essa}'  in  an  improved  and  enlarged  form. 
As  a  matter  of  course,  in  order  to  defend  against  higher  criticism 
the  Mosaic  authorship  of  Genesis  he  found  it  necessary  to  extend 
the  sphere  of  his  remarks  to  the  middle  books  and  to  Deutero- 
nomy. His  readers  will  rejoice  at  the  necessity,  for  the  result 
is  that  they  have  an  admirable  treatise  on  a  most  important 
subject. 

It  consists  of  two  parts.  The  first  division  contains  a  clear, 
concise  description  and  refutation  of  the  four  great  hypotheses 
in  support  of  which  respectively  all  the  manifold  theories  of 
Pentateuchal  criticism  have  been  invented.  The  comparative 
table  of  systems  given  on  page  139  is  particularly  good.  Some 
phases,  however,  in  their  chequered  evolution  might,  with  ad- 
vantage have  been  explained  in  detail ;  for  instance,  Ewald's 
change  of  opinion  respecting  the  Supplement-Hypothesis  and 
the  cause  of  Hupfeld's  opposition  to  it.  But  on  the  whole, 
Kley  gives  a  graphic  account  of  what  is  known  as  negative  or 
destructive  criticism,  and  especially  of  Wellhausen's  plan  of 
attack,  which  as  being  the  method  in  vogue  at  the  present  day, 
is  entitled  to  special  attention. 

The  second  part  deals  with  the  language  of  the  Pentateuch, 
Its  alleged  anachronisms,  etc.  ;  monotheism,  unity  of  sanctuary, 
sacrifices,  priests,  and  levites,  etc.,  etc.  ;  in  a  word,  it  discusses 
in  connection  with  the  Pentateuch  the  chief  critical  questions 
of  the  day.  The  answers  which  the  author  makes  to  some  ob- 
ler.tions  may  not  be  so  full  and  satisfactory  as  those  we  find  in 
Smith's  Pentateuch,  or  in  Van  Hoonacker's  Le  Sacerdoce  Leviiique, 


i86 


THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


but  what  he  says,  often  from  a  new  standpoint,  is  very  suggestive. 
Nearly  all  the  books  he  refers  to  are  written  by  Germans,  and 
this  may,  perhaps,  account  for  the  comparatively  shorter  treat- 
ment of  problems  which  are  considered  important  in  France, 
England,  and  the  United  States.  But  he  does  know  the  litera- 
ture of  his  subject,  and  to  anyone  desirous  of  learning  what  is 
being  said  by  rationalists  in  Germany  his  book  will  be  both 
interesting  and  useful.  It  supplies  what  has  for  the  past  few 
years  been  felt  as  a  want  by  some  Catholic  students. 

R.  W. 


Christian  Apologetics.    By  Rev.  W.  Devivier,  S.J. 

T.  Translated  by  Rev.  L.  Peeters  and  Rev.  J.  Sasia,  S.J. 

Burns  &  Oates. 
2.  Translated  by  E.  McMahon.  Benziger. 

At  the  jiresent  day  the  value  of  work  ssuch  as  this  is  so  ol:)vious 
as  hardly  to  admit  of  comment.  People  read  of  so  many  ephe- 
meral productions  more  or  less  secular  in  their  nature  and  drift, 
that  there  is  especial  need  of  good  CatlTolic  literature  which  may 
serve  as  an  antidote.  And  people  are  often  heard  to  ask  for  a 
solidly  learned  book  that  will  enlighten  them  on  some  point  of 
doctrine  or  of  history  v/hich  they  instinctivelj^  feel  has  been 
misrepresented  in  the  magazine  or  newspaper  they  have  just  laid 
down.  Men  whose  faith  might  be  weakened  by  an  objection 
which  they  themselves  could  not  answer  will  generally  find  it 
already  refuted  in  Father  Devivier's  pages.  For  special  atten- 
tion is  paid  by  him  to  current  topics  and  to  the  specious  argu- 
ments by  means  of  which  those  outside  the  Church  attack  her 
infallible  teaching.  In  all  the  departments  of  science  and  litera- 
ture the  author  shows  that  modern  discoveries  and  the  unanimous 
voice  of  the  learned  concur  in  giving  testimony  to  the  Catholic 
Church. 

And  there  is  another  class  of  persons  for  whom  he  writes, 
viz.,  the  intelligent  and  fairly  well  educated  laymen  who  desire 
to  know  more  about  the  truths  of  their  holy  religion  than  is  con- 
tained in  catechisms  and  school-books.  Though  they  have  no 
opportunitj'  of  reading  a  course  of  theology,  nevertheless,  they 
would  fain  understand  something  about  the  questions  that 
belong  to  the  domain  of  the  queen  of  sciences.    To  meet  their 


NOTICES  OF  BOOKS 


187 


egitimate  wishes  Father  Devivier  discusses,  e.g.,  the  historical 
value  of  Scripture,  the  proofs  of  the  divine  origin  of  Christianity, 
the  notes  of  the  Church,  Infallibility,  Primacy,  and  the  relations 
between  Church  and  State. 

The  French  original  of  his  work  has  now  reached  its  sixteenth 
edition  in  the  course  of  a  few  years,  and  it  has  been  translated 
into  several  languages.  Many  Cardinals,  and  the  Archbishops 
and  Bishops  in  various  countries,  have  given  it  their  cordial 
recommendation.  A  better  book  for  a  parochial  library,  or  for 
the  reading-room  of  a  Catholic  association  could  hardly  be 
procured. 

As  the  two  translations  named  above  reached  us  together, 
it  seemed  better  to  review  them  simultaneously.  Both  are 
faithful  to  the  original,  and  both  are  written  in  clear  flowing 
English.  We  notice  that  some  references  and  notes  are  found 
only  in  the  one,  some  only  in  the  other.  But  it  is  mere  justice 
to  add  that  the  larger  number  is  peculiar  to  the  translation  in 
two  volumes  by  the  Jesuit  fathers.  This  condition  contains  also 
a  valuable  introduction  by  Father  Peeters,  enlarged  and  adapted 
by  Father  Sasia.  It  treats  of  God  and  of  the  human  soul. 
Moreover,  in  this  edition  the  reader  will  find  lists  of  the  best 
books  on  the  subject  of  which  each  section  treats.  These  render 
the  original  work  still  more  useful  to  students  of  theology  or 
to  priests  on  the  mission.  It  will  be  understood  from  this  brief 
comparison,  that  the  translations  respectively  are  suited  to 
different  classes  of  readers.  One  is  for  those  who  have  leisure 
and  a  library,  the  other — a  handy  one  volume  edition — is  for  the 
busy  man  or  woman. 

P.  G. 

Lex  Or.^ndi  ;  or,  Prayer  and  Creed.  By  Rve.  George 
Tyrrell,  S.J.  i.ondon :  Longmans,  Green,  &  Co. 
Price  5s.  net. 

This  is  not  a  book  for  the  man  in  the  street  ;  only  the 
trained  thinker  is  capable  of  rating  its  importance.  It  is  what 
may  be  called  the  heart  apology  for  the  Catholic  religion. 
Assuming  the  existence  in  man's  soul  of  a  '  religious  sense  '  and 
a  de  jacto  exigency  of  the  '  supernatural,'  the  author  develops 
the  thesis  that  Catholicity  is  true  because  it  is  the  ascertained 
realization  of  man's  highest  and  fullest  life.    It  would  seem  that 


l88  THE  IRISH  ECCLESTAST  ICAl.  RECORD 


great  minds  have  been  influenced  by  this  view  of  reUgion.  In 
his  preface  to  /.  H.  Newman,  par  Georges  Grappe,  Paul  Bourget 
says  : — 

Ce  que  Newman  a  vu  nettement,  ce  que  M.  Olle-Laprune  a 
reconnu  de  son  cote  et  dit  non  moins  nettement,  c'est  que  la 
question  de  la  verite  religieuse  n'est  pas  purement  intellectuelle. 
Cette  verite  n'est  pas  une  verite  abstraite.  C'est  une  verite. 
vivante.  Elle  ne  s'adresse  pas  dans  I'homme  a  la  seule  intelli- 
gence, elle  s'adresse  au  coeur  et  a  la  volunte.  Elle  doit  etre 
sentie  autant  que  comprise,  et  voulue  autant  que  sentie  .  .  . 
C'etait  bien  cette  idee  qu'entrevoyait  Pascal  quand  il  parlait  de 
'  raisons  de  cceur  que  la  raison  ne  comprend  pas,'  et  surtout 
orsqu'il  ecrivait  dans  son  mystere  de  Jesus,  sur  les  peches. 
A  mesure  que  tu  les  expieras,  tu  les  connaitres.'  Phrase 
d'une  portee  extraordinaire  !  Elle  significe  que  pour  penser  la 
verite  religieuse  il  faut  d'abord  la  vivre. 

The  first  sentence  in  the  preface  to  his  book  contains  Fr. 
Tyrrell's  defence  against  any  objections  that  the  dogmatic  theo- 
logian might  make  to  this  line  of  apologetics.  '  Truth,'  he  says, 
'  can  and  ought  to  be  approached  from  many  sides  ;  it  is  not 
different  because  their  aspects  and  approaches  are  different.' 
The  author  tries  to  show  how  the  Creed  may  be  approached  or 
rather  apprehended  through  the  spirit  of  prayer  taken  in  a  wide 
sense.  Hence  the  title  of  his  book.  Sfiritus  spiral  nhi  vult,ia.x\d. 
we  can  believe  that  this  view  of  religion  might  appeal  to  many 
whom  the  scientific  treatment  of  the  subject  would  leave  un- 
moved. Fr.  Tyrrell  writes  for  the  learned  and  affects  putting 
simple  truths  in  a  novel  way.  He  uses  such  words  as  '  will- 
attitude,'  '  will-union,'  '  Christocentricism.'  A  quotation  from 
St.  Augustine  is  sometimes  welcome  as  a  simplification  of  the 
author's  idea.  The  following  extract  will  illustrate  the  complex 
character  of  his  way  of  viewing  things  : — 

Through  that  world  to  which  our  body  belongs  and  of  which 
our  senses,  memory,  and  understanding  take  account,  we  are 
made  aware  of  other  wills  which  impress  themselves  therein,  as 
we  ourselves  do,  by  the  sensibly  evident  results  of  their  action. 
It  is  in  our  felt  relation  to  those  other  wills  that  our  spiritual  life 
in  reality  consists.  That  relation  is,  with  regard  to  each  several 
will,  one  of  agreement  and  attraction  or  of  revolt  and  dislike,  or 
rather  of  a  complex  bending  of  likes  and  dislikes,  according  to 
the  innumerable  elements  into  which  each  moral  personality, 
each  total  will-attitude  may  be  virtually  resolved.    Like  the 


NOTICES  OF  BOOKS 


motes  in  a  sunbeam  the  whole  world  of  wills  is  in  ceaseless  com- 
motion ;  each  changing  its  attitude  with  regard  to  all  the  rest, 
as  moment  by  moment  the  shifting  situation  demands  a  new 
response.  Whenever  we  find  another  will  accordant  with  our 
own  in  any  particular  we  experience  a  sense  of  re-enforcement 
and  expansion  of  our  spiritual  life  and  being.  (Page  12.) 

To  sum  up  what  we  think,  Fr.  Tyrrell's  book  is  a  highly 
successful  attempt  to  dress  old  thoughts  in  a  new  garb  which 
will,  perhaps,  make  them  acceptable  to  those '  intellectuals ' 
and  dilletanti  to  whom  the  common  way  of  talking  would  not 
appeal.  The  ordinary  Catholic  reader  will  scarcely  understand 
the  bearing  of  such  language  as  the  following  : — 

It  (the  doctrine  of  the  Blessed  Trinity)  is  a  conception  of 
the  Divinity  which  shapes,  characterises,  and  expresses  that  par- 
ticular quality  of  supernatural  love  towards  God  and  man  that 
burned  as  a  fire  in  the  Heart  of  Christ  and  was  thence  kindled 
over  the  face  of  the  earth  among  His  disciples.  It  gives  a  new 
and  far  more  explicit  constitution  to  that  will-world  in  which  our 
inner  life  of  grace  is  lived,  determining  more  exactly  the  nature 
of  its  source,  end,  and  centre,  and  by  consequence  of  our  rela- 
tions to  it  and  to  one  another  through  it.  Like  every  other  doc- 
trine of  the  Christian  faith,  this  of  the  Trinity  is  the  creation  of 
love  and  life  ;  it  was  felt  and  lived  before  it  was  expressed  in 
terms  of  the  understanding  .  .  .  not  till  it  gathered  to  its  utmost 
force  and  intensity  in  the  human  soul  of  Christ  was  its  origin 
clearly  revealed  to  man's  mind  as  a  Trinity  of  divine  persons, 
Father,  Son,  and  Spirit  (page  110). 

We  heartily  commend  the  book  to  theologians,  philosophers, 
and  to  all  who  wish  to  follow  the  unfolding  of  a  profound  thought 
in  an  original  and  attractive  style. 

T.  P.  G. 

S.  Alphonsi  Mariae  de  Liguorio,  Ecclesiae  Doctoris, 
Opera  Dogmatica  ex  Italico  Sermone  in  Latinum. 
Transtulit  Aloysius  Walter,  C.SS.R.  Romae  :  Typis 
Philippi  Cuggiani,  Via  della  Pace. 

Fr.  Walter  has  published  in  two  portly  volumes  a  clear  and 
reliable  translation  of  the  dogmatic  works  of  St.  Alphonsus.  No 
doubt  it  is  principally  as  a  moral  theologian  St.  Liguori  will  live 
in  the  annals  of  ecclesiastical  science.  Yet  in  his  dogmatic 
writings  he  has  proved  himself  a  thoughtful,  broadminded 
master.    We  must  be  ever  grateful  to  him  for  what  he  has  done 


THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


in  this  line.  We  must  be  grateful  also  to  Fr.  Walter  for  having 
given  to  the  world  what  was  hitherto  reserved  for  Italians. 

It  would  be  impossible  for  uS;  in  a  short  notice,  to  discuss 
the  many  points  of  dogmatic  theology  which  are  inevitably  raised 
by  the  publication  of  a  work  like  that  of  Fr.  Walter.  We  can 
at  most,  give  our  readers  a  general  idea  of  the  ground  which  has 
been  covered  by  the  great  doctor  of  the  Church  in  his  dogmatic 
works.  We  can  do  this  in  no  better  way  than  by  giving  the 
titles  of  the  divisions  of  the  two  volumes  : — I.  '  Contra  Atheos 
et  Deistas  ;  '  II.  '  Contra  Sectas  Dissidentes  ;  '  III.  '  De  Fidei 
veritate  contra  incredulos  et  haereticos  ;'  IV.  '  Vindiciae  contra 
Febronium  ;  '  V.  '  Doctrinal  Catholicae  juxta  Concilii  Tridentini 
decreta  expositio  ;  '  VI.  Haeresium  historia  et  confutatio  ;  '  VII. 
'  De  divina  revelatione  considerationes;'  VIII.  'De  Novissimis;  ' 
IX.  '  De  magno  orationis  medio  ;  '  Appendix  I.  '  De  spe  Chris- 
tiana ;  '  Appendix  II.  '  De  Jesu  Christi  praedestinatione.' 

Cardinal  Merry  del  Val,  in  a  letter  written  to  Fr.  Walter  at 
the  command  of  His  Holiness,  Pius  X.,  gives  special  thanks  for 
the  great  benefit  which  lias  been  done  to  the  world  by  making 
better  known  St.  Liguori's  works  from  which  the  fruits  of  solid 
doctrine  and  piety  are  rightly  hoped.  We  congratulate  Fr. 
Walter  on  such  a  tribute.  We  wish  his  work  a  wide  and  friendly 
recognition. 

J.  M.  H. 

Youthful  Verses.  By  J.  J.  Kelly,  D.D.,  Athlone.  Dublin 

Gill  &  Son. 

In  his  very  modest  preface  to  this  little  volume  the  author 
teUs  us  that  the  poems  it  enshrines  are  effusions  of  his  youthful 
days  which  he  would  have  been  satisfied  to  leave  buried  in  the 
files  of  old  newspapers  and  collections  for  recitation  were  it  not 
for  the  soUcitation  of  friends  and  classfellows  and  the  tenderness 
of  advancing  years  for  the  first  fruits  of  his  poetic  ardour. 

It  is  not  very  often  we  can  congratulate  poets  on  yielding  to 
the  entreaties  of  old  friends  in  giving  their  verses  to  the  world  ; 
but  there  are  exceptions  to  every  rule,  and  this  is  distinctly  and 
deservedly  an  exception.  The  poems  are  as  pure  in  diction  and 
as  free  from  prose  as  they  are  elevated  in  tliought  and  subject. 
Many  of  them  are  devoted  to  the  '  Queen  of  May,'  to  the  angels 
and  saints,  to  patriots,  famous  Irishmen  of  letters,  friends 
and  acquaintances,  fhe  characteristics  of  youth  are  visible  in 


NOTICES  OF  BOOKS 


191 


them  here  and  there.  Some  few  verses  limp,  or  at  least  do  not 
make  harmony  in  our  ear.  But  on  the  whole  they  are  pleasant 
to  read  and  well  worthy  of  being  preserved.  The  verses  to  his 
•  Alma  Mater '  are  perhaps  the  best  in  the  volume,  and  many  of 
her  past  alumni  will  echo  his  prayer. 

Maynooth  !  God  guard  thy  loved  walls  well, 

1  hy  chapels  and  thv  halls  of  prayer, 

Thy  corridors  and  cloisters  fair, 
Where  youths'  bright  memories  ever  dwell 


No  wonder  aged  priests  who  bear 
The  burden  of  accomplished  days 
With  saddened  eyes  should  backward  gaze 

On  these  dear  walls  and  all  declare — 

Ma^Tiooth  !  our  happiest  years  are  thine  ! 

Thine  are  the  springs  of  sacred  truth, 

The  unforgotten  friends  of  youth  ; 
Fair  through  the  years  thy  turrets  shine. 

•  »•*•••. 

While  memory  of  the  past  endures, 

Fair  Mother  of  a  royal  race, 

Of  noble  form  and  queenly  grace, 
Our  true  and  changeless  love  is  yours. 

We  hope  that  Mgr.  Kelly's  confidence  may  be  justified  by 
the  sale  of  this  pretty  little  volume. 

J.F.  H. 

HiSTOIRE     DES    LiVRES     DU    NOUVEAU    TESTAMENT.  E. 

Jacquier.  (Tome   premier).    Paris:  Lecoffre. 

This  is  an  admirable  little  work  on  the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul. 
The  writer  has  evidently  made  the  subject  his  own.  Those  who 
know  the  excellent  articles  which  he  has  contributed  to  the 
present  three  volumes  of  Vigouroux'  Dictionnaire  de  la  Bible  will 
be  prepared  for  this.  '  Colossiens,'  '  Corinthiens,'  etc.,  are  by 
him,  and  in  the  present  work  we  have  the  matured  result  of  his 
studies  in  a  very  attractive  form.  He  traces  the  events  that  led 
to  St.  Paul's  writing,  the  date  and  the  place  of  the  composition, 
etc.,  and  gives  a  very  minute  analysis.     We  do  not  indeed 


192 


THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


remember  to  have  seen  within  restricted  Umits  a  better  account 
of  the  pecuHarities  of  the  Apostle's  diction  and  style.  The 
authenticity  of  each  Epistle  is  also  clearly  proved.  On  one  side 
the  current  objections  are  stated  adequately,  on  the  other  the 
answers  of  our  best  oommentators  are  given.  In  conclusion  it 
may  be  said  that  the  reverend  author,  who  by  the  way  is  both 
Professor  of  Scripture  and  Master  of  Conference  in  Lyons,  does 
not  traverse  quite  the  same  ground  as  the  Abbe  Fouard  or 
Conybeare  and  Howson.  They  are  concerned  chiefly  with 
St.  Paul  himself,  his  mission  and  Apostolic  journeys;  Abbe 
Jacquier  does  not  stop  to  tell  us  much  about  Asia  Minor  or 
Greece  and  St.  Paul's  doings  there;  he  confines  his  attention 
for  the  most  part  to  the  Epistles  themselves. 

F.  N. 

HiSTOIRE  DE  L'AnCIEN  TESTAMENT,  L'Abbe  J.  B.  Pelt. 
4me.  Edition.  Paris  :  Lecoffre. 
Everyone  knows  that  in  recent  years  a  vast  amount  of 
information  more  or  less  illustrative  of  the  Old  Testament  has 
been  given  to  the  world.  Discoveries  in  Egypt  and  in  Assj.Tia 
are  shedding  so  brilliant  light  on  the  meaning  of  many  parts  of 
the  inspired  record,  that  at  last  we  can  clearly  see  the  con- 
nexion between  events  in  sacred  and  events  in  profane  history. 
What  may  be  called  the  worldly  background  of  the  narrative 
that  extends  from  Genesis  to  Paralipomenon  has  emerged  from 
the  gloom  of  ages.  The  natural  result  has  been  a  marked 
improvement  in  l)ooks  that  treat  of  the  history  of  the  Old 
Testament.  In  Germany  Schopfer's  work  is,  we  believe,  regarded 
as  one  of  the  best  on  the  subject.  It  has  been  translated  and 
supplemented  by  the  Abbe  Pelt.  Needless  to  say  that  it  is  a 
pleasure  to  read  his  version.  No  book  of  the  kind  is  more  likely 
to  be  useful  to  a  busy  ecclesiastic  that  desires  to  have  in  com- 
pendious form  a  reliable  account  of  Israel's  place  in  the  world's 
history,  and  at  the  same  time  to  know  accurately  something 
about  the  critical  questions  that  are  mooted  in  respect  of  the 
Old  Testament  the  present  day. 

E.  L. 


ST.  CHRYSOSTOM  ON  THE  PASTORAL  OFFICE  ^ 


I-      '  ' 

CHRYSOSTOM  and  Basil  (not  the  great  Basil)  grew 
up  together  at  Antioch,  were  of  the  same  social 
standing,  had  similar  tastes,  and  were  fast  friends. 
They  commenced  life  as  young  men  of  the  world 
and  ended  by  becoming,  first  monks  and  afterwards  bishops. 
Basil  was  the  first  to  quit  the  world  and  betake  himself,  not 
without  his  books,  to  solitude.     John  remained  at  Antiochj 
held  back  it  would  seem  by  the  attractions  of  the  law-courts 
and  of  the  theatres  ;  and  so  the  constant  intercourse  of  the 
two  friends  was  interrupted.    '  But,'  says  Chrysostom,  '  as 
soon  as  I  too  raised  my  head  somewhat  above  the  billows 
of  this  life,  he  received  me  with  outstretched  arms.'  Basil 
invited  his  old  friend  to  come  away  from  his  home  and  his 
mother  that  they  might  both  dwell  together  in  solitude, 
friendship,  and  holiness.    John  was  ready  to  break  with  the 
world. 

But  [he  tells  us]  the  constant  caresses  of  my  mother  pre- 
vented me  from  doing  him  that  favour  .  .  .  She  took  me  by  the 
hand  and  brought  me  into  her  room,  and  making  me  sit  down  by 
the  bed  where  she  gave  me  birth,  she  burst  into  a  flood  of  tears, 
and  added  words  more  affecting  than  tears.  .  .  .  '  My  dear  son,' 


'■  On  the  Priesthood.  A  treatise  in  six  books,  By  St.  John  Chrysostom. 
Translated  by  the  Rev,  Patrick  Boyle,  CM.  Dublin:  M.  H.  Gill  and  Son  ; 
London  ;  Art  and  Book  Co. ;  New  York  :  Benziger  Bros.  1903. 


FOURTH  SERIES,  VOL.  XV. — MARCH,  I9O4. 


194  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


said  she,  '  as  God  so  willed  it  I  was  not  allowed  to  possess  long 
your  virtuous  father.  For  his  death,  which  took  place  soon 
after  you  were  born,  left  you  an  orphan  and  me  prematurely  a 
widow  with  the  trials  of  widowhood,  which  they  alone  can  under- 
stand who  have  experienced  them  ;  for  no  words  can  describe 
the  flood  of  affliction  which  a  young  woman,  who  has  but  recently 
left  her  father's  home  and  is  yet  inexperienced  in  business, 
endures  when  she  is  suddenly  overwhelmed  with  extreme  grief 
and  compelled  to  undertake  cares  beyond  her  age  and  sex. 
For  she  is  obliged  to  correct  the  domestics  for  their  negligence, 
and  watch  to  hinder  their  infidelity,  and  guard  against  the  in- 
trigues of  relatives,  and  resist  courageously  the  exactions  and 
harshness  of  the  tax-gatherers  ....  Yet  none  of  these  things 
induced  me  to  contract  a  second  marriage,  nor  to  bring  a  second 
husband  into  your  father's  house  ;  but  I  remained  in  the  tempest 
and  the  din,  and  I  did  not  fly  from  the  fiery  furnace  of  widow- 
hood. .  .  .  Await  my  death.  .  .  .  When  you  have  laid  me  in 
the  earth  by  the  bones  of  your  father,  then  .  .  .  sail  on  whatever 
sea  you  please  '  (page  4). 

Basil,  to  whom  John  related  this  and  other  similar  inter- 
views, was  unmoved,  but  no  son  could  resist  such  an  appeal, 
'  While  we  were  thus  engaged,'  Chrysostom  continues,  '  he 
continually  pressing  his  request  and  I  not  assenting,  all  of 
a  sudden  a  rumour  arose  that  filled  us  both  with  alarm. 
The  rumour  was  that  we  were  to  be  promoted  to  the  Epis- 
copal dignity.'  It  was  now  John's  turn  to  be  immovable. 
Basil  proposed  to  his  friend  that  '  in  this  as  on  former 
occasions,  they  should  display  unity  of  action  and  purpose  ;' 
saying,  says  Chrysostom,  '  that  he  was  ready  to  follow 
whatever  course  I  should  adopt  either  in  declining  or  sub- 
mitting.' It  would  seem  that  John's  answer  left  Basil 
under  the  impression  that  this  was  a  bargain,  but  when  the 
ordaining  prelate  arrived  sometime  after,  John  was  not  to 
be  found,  and  Basil  was  consecrated  Bishop  of  Raphanaea, 
having  been  induced  to  accept  the  yoke  by  the  false  state- 
ment that  his  friend  John  had  already  submitted  to  the 
will  of  God.  Basil  was  greatly  annoyed  on  ascertaining  the 
truth  and  came  to  his  friend  in  a  state  of  great  excitement. 
'  Seeing  him,'  says  Chrysostom,  '  bathed  in  tears  and  under 
the  mfiuence  of  great  emotion,  and  knowing  the  cause,  I 
began  to  laugh  for  very  joy,  and  taking  his  hand  I  began 
to  kiss  it,  and  I  praised  God  that  my  stratagem  had  ended 


ST.  CHRYSOSTOM  ON  THE  PASTORAL  OFFICE  IQS 


well  and  in  the  way  I  had  always  desired.'  Basil  replied 
that  the  deception  practised  on  him  by  a  life-long  friend 
was  not  now  his  bitterest  trial.  What  was  he  to  say  to 
those  who  accused  Chrysostom  of  refusing  the  Episcopal  e 
through  a  spirit  of  vain-glory. 

'  Some,'  he  said  to  him,  '  accuse  you  of  arrogance  and  others 
of  vainty,  and  those  who  are  most  unsparing  in  their  charges 
accuse  us  both  and,  moreover,  they  add  the  charge  of  insolence 
towards  those  who  elected  us  to  this  dignity  .  .  .  For  they 
passed  over  so  many  deserving  men  and  straightway  promoted 
to  a  dignity  such  as  they  could  never  have  dreamt  of  obtaining, 
mere  boys  who  until  the  other  day  were  immersed  in  the  business 
of  the  world,  because,  forsooth,  they  had  put  on  a  serious  look 
and  dressed  plainly,  and  assumed  an  air  of  affected  gravity 
.  .  .  This  and  more  they  are  constantly  saying  to  me.  As  for 
me,  I  know  not  what  reply  to  make  and  I  beg  of  you  to  tell  me.' 

Chrysostom's  apologia  in  answer  to  his  friend's  appeal 
is  his  famous  treatise  on  the  Pastoral  Office  which  the  learned 
Rector  of  the  Irish  College,  Paris,  has  translated  into  smooth 
and  readable  English.  The  work  is  divided  into  six  books, 
any  of  which  might  be  read  in  less  than  two  hours.  The 
Editor  of  the  I.  E.  Record  was  kind  enough  to  ask  me  to 
review  Father  Boyle's  translation,  and  reading  it  over  I 
thought  it  a  pity  to  dismiss  so  interesting  and  practical  a 
work  with  the  usual  few  complimentary  remarks.  I  hope 
the  Editor  will  kindly  allow  me  space  to  describe  the  scope 
and  character  of  the  book  and  to  give  a  few  extracts  which, 
I  think,  will  show  how  absolutely  modern  in  its  application 
is  the  idea  of  the  Pastoral  Office  as  conceived  by  St.  John 
Chrysostom  in  the  latter  end  of  the  fourth  century. 

II. 

The  substance  of  the  first  book  is  contained  in  the  fore- 
going remarks,  the  quotations  being  all  from  Father  Boyle's 
translation.  Designed  as  an  introduction  to  his  treatise  on 
the  Priesthood,  it  contains  interesting  details  of  the  saint's 
early  life.  The  iron  austerity  of  the  man  who  would  entice 
young  Chrysostom,  an  only  son,  away  from  his  widowed 
mother  is  typical  of  the  asceticism  of  the  first  ages,  and 
would  be  called  inhuman  barbarity  by  many  well-meaning 


196  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


people  of  our  time.  The  remaining  five  books  are  a  defence 
of  his  conduct  in  evading  a  dignity  and  responsibihty  which 
he  was  wilhng  to  have  placed  on  the  shoulders  of  his  friend 
Basil.  Without  committing  himself  to  a  detailed  pro- 
gramme or  following  a  logical  order  he  touches  on  the 
excellence,  difficulties,  and  responsibility'  of  the  Pastoral 
Office,  on  the  duty  of  the  electors  to  the  Episcopacy,  on 
the  duty  and  method  of  preaching,  and,  more  than  all, 
on  the  qualifications  requisite  for  the  efficient  exercise  of 
the  pastor's  mission.  The  work  is  in  the  form  of  a  dialogue 
between  Basil  and  himself,  but  Chrysostom  does  nearly  all 
the  talking.  What  makes  the  book  particularly  interesting 
and  readable  is,  that  it  is  not  a  formal  treatise  on  the 
Pastoral  Office,  but  rather  a  personal  explanation  in  which 
Chrysostom  talks  very  candidly  about  his  own  shortcomings 
and  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  his  day.  The  original 
work  is  a  classic,  for  though  a  living  picture  of  the  age  in 
which  Chrysostom  lived,  it  deals  with  those  weaknesses  of 
human  nature  which  are  always  with  us,  and  its  style  is 
characterised  by  those  qualities  which  have  won  for 
Chrysostom  the  reputation  of  being  among  the  greatest 
of  Christian  orators. 

Eloquent,  forcible,  and  elegant  as  is  this  work,  it  is, 
I  venture  to  say,  more  remarkable  for  the  i  practical 
knowledge  of  life  and  of  Sacred  Scripture  displayed 
in  its  every  page.  Chrysostom  was  anything  but  a 
theorist.  He  had  lived  what  he  wrote.  This  book 
was,  it  seems,  written  some  years  after  the  event  which 
occasioned  it,  at  a  time  when  Chrysostom  was  engaged 
as  deacon  in  the  Church  of  Antioch,  and  so,  though  not 
yet  Patriarch  of  Constantinople  he  was  able  to  draw  on 
a  wide  experience  of  monastic  and  missionary  life  to  illustrate 
his  views.  A  small  man  himself  and  weak,  too,  it  seems,  in 
bodily  health,  he  drew  his  ideals  and  inspirations  from  the 
writings  and  character  of  St.  Paul.  Here,  then,  is  a  work 
which  realises  all  the  conditions  of  a  Christian  classic,  a 
work  which  no  pastor  can  read  without  profit,  which  charms 
while  it  instructs,  which  is  as  applicable  to  our  time  as  to 
the  conditions  of  the  fourth  century,  and  from  the  perusal 


ST.  CHRYS05TOM  ON  THE  PASTORAL  OFFICE  197 


of  which  no  serious  soul  can  fail  to  carry  away  a  haunting 
sense  of  the  majesty  and  dreadful  responsibility  of  the 
priestly  office. 

III. 

But  it  is  time  to  let  the  golden-mouthed  John  speak. 
Here  is  what  he  says  about  Episcopal  elections  as  they  were 
conducted  in  his  day  about  Antioch  : — 

Go  and  witness  the  solemn  festivals  when,  according  to  usage, 
ecclesiastical  elections  are  generally  held,  and  you  will  see  the 
priest  assailed  by  as  many  accusations  as  he  has  subjects.  For 
all  who  have  right  to  vote  for  the  office  are  split  up  into  many 
sections,  and  you  would  hardly  ever  find  the  assembly  of  priests 
agreed  amongst  themselves  or  with  the  presiding  bishop,  but 
taking  each  his  own  view,  one  votes  for  one  candidate,  and 
another  for  a  different  one.  The  reason  is,  that  all  do  not  pay 
attention  to  the  very  point  they  should  look  to,  that  is,  to 
virtue,  but  they  assign  various  motives  for  conferring  the  office. 
One  says  :  Let  us  elect  the  candidate  for  he  is  of  noble  family  ; 
or  this  one,  because  he  is  wealthy  and  does  not  require  the  re- 
venues of  the  Church  for  his  support  ;  or  that  other,  because  he 
comes  to  us  from  the  ranks  of  our  adversaries.  One  votes  for 
an  acquaintance,  another  for  a  relative,  a  third  tries  to  get  one 
of  his  flatterers  preferred  to  all  others.  But  no  one  wishes  to 
consider  who  is  fit  for  the  office  nor  to  examine  his  qualifications. 

I  am  sure  the  last  sentence  is  an  exaggeration,  for  John 
himself  was  chosen  in  397  to  succeed  Nestorius  as  Bishop 
of  Constantinople,  though  indeed  '  Theophilus,  Patriarch  of 
Alexandria,  a  man  of  a  proud  and  turbulent  spirit,  was 
come  thither  to  recommend  a  creature  of  his  own  to  that 
dignity.''^  Chrysostom's  views  on  the  qualifications  for  the 
Pastoral  or  Episcopal  Office  are  very  definite  and  practical. 
He  insists  of  course  on  personal  sanctity  as  a  primar}' 
requisite. 

'  The  soul  of  a  priest,'  he  says,  '  should  be  purer  than 
the  rays  of  the  sun,  that  he  may  not  be  abandoned  by  the 
Holy  Ghost.'  But  he  requires  in  the  pastor  a  great  deal 
more  : — 

Even  [he  says]  if  a  man  had  great  piety,  yet  I  should  not 


^  Butler's  Lives  of  the  Sninls  :  St.  John  Chrysostom. 


198 


THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


wish  to  elect  him  for  that  reason  unless  along  with  piety  he 
possessed  great  prudence.  For  I  have  known  many  who  prac- 
tised constant  self-denial  and  emaciated  themselves  by  fasting, 
and  were  pleasing  to  God  as  long  as  they  were  able  to  live  retired 
and  attend  to  themselves  only  ;  but  when  they  w^ere  advanced 
to  a  public  office  and  were  obliged  to  correct  the  faults  of  the 
people,  some  of  them  from  the  outset  were  unequal  to  the  task 
(page  6i). 

Writing  in  the  same  strain  at  page  130,  he  says  : — 

Nor  is  this  strange.  For  when  the  contest  and  the  training 
have  not  the  same  object,  the  combatant  is  no  better  than  one 
untrained.  He  who  enters  those  lists  must,  first  of  all,  despise 
glory,  be'  above  ane;er,  and  possess  great  prudence.  Now 
they  who  embrace  a  monastic  life  have  no  opportunity  to  exer- 
cise themselves  in  these  things.  They  have  not  the  people  to 
excite  them  to  anger,  that  so  they  may  learn  to  control  it,  nor 
to  praise  and  admire  them,  that  they  may  learn  to  despise 
popular  applause,  nor  do  they  attach  great  importance  to  pru- 
dence so  necessary  in  ecclesiastical  affairs.  On  entering  then 
on  contests  of  which  they  had  no  experience,  they  become  per- 
plexed and  dazed  and  helpless,  and,  besides  making  no  progress 
in  virtue  oftentimes  they  lose  what  they  already  possessed. 

In  addition  then  to  personal  holiness,  St.  Chrysostom 
would  require  in  candidates  for  the  Pastoral  Office  that  tact, 
prudence,  and  patience  which  are  learned  only  in  the  school 
of  trial  and  experience.  He  has  a  piquant  passage  (page  68) 
on  the  necessity  of  patience  : — 

But  I  do  not  consider  such  magnanimity  (detachment  from 
monej')  enough,  though  it  is  more  important  than  other  qualities. 
.  .  .  But  along  with  it  another  qualification  is  requisite.  Now 
that  quality  is  patience,  a  virtue  which  is  the  source  of  all  good 
things  to  men,  and  which  wafts  the  soul  as  it  were  to  the  pleasant 
harbour  of  tranquillit}'.  For  bv  reason  of  their  poverty  and 
their  age  and  their  sex,  widows  are  immoderately  free  in  speech 
(for  that  is  the  best  way  of  putting  it)  ;  they  clamour  without 
reason,  and  complain  without  cause,  and  lament  where  they 
ought  to  be  thankful,  and  find  fault  where  they  ought  to  be 
grateful.  And  he  who  is  set  over  them  must  bear  all  with 
courage,  and  not  be  moved  to  anger  by  their  unseasonable 
brawls  and  their  unreasonable  complaints. 

In  this  passage  we  see  the  Deacon  of  Antioch  distributing 
relief  to  the  distressed,  and  one  is  struck  in  reading  it  at 


ST.  CHRYSOSTOM  ON  THE  PASTORAL  OFFICE  199 


the  unprogressive  character  of  human  nature.  The  quah- 
fications  of  a  pastor  are  eloquently  summed  up  in  the 
following  paragraph  (page  66)  : — 

Consider  then,  what  manner  of  man  he  ought  to  be  whose 
duty  it  is  to  bear  up  against  so  great  a  tempest  and  surmount 
so  many  obstacles.  He  ought  to  be  grave  yet  not  haughty, 
awe-inspiring  3'et  kind,  full  of  authority  yet  affable,  no  acceptor 
of  persons  yet  condescending,  humble  yet  not  servile,  strong 
yet  meek,  that  he  may  be  able  with  ease  to  cope  with  all  these 
difficulties,  and  with  full  liberty  promote  the  qualified  candidate 
though  all  oppose,  and  not  promote  the  unqualified  even  though 
all  combine  in  his  favour  ;  and  to  look  to  one  thing  only,  the 
edification  of  the  Church,  and  do  nothing  through  hatred  or 
partiality. 

IV.  ■ 

Running  through  the  whole  book  is  an  expression  of 
Chrysostom's  sense  of  the  difficulties  and  responsibility  of 
the  pastor's  office.  The  labour  of  the  monastic  state  he 
speaks  of  as  the  '  passing  over  a  river,'  but  the  Episcopacy 
is,  to  his  mind,  '  the  labour  of  crossing  the  boundless  sea.' 
'  The  billows,'  he  says,  '  which  assail  the  soul  of  a  priest 
are  greater  than  those  which  the  tempests  raise  in  the  ocean.' 
Speaking  about  his  own  character  he  singles  out  what  he 
calls  '  the  most  dangerous  rock  of  vain-glory  '  : — 

If  one  [he  says]  were  to  impose  this  dignity  upon  me  he 
would,  as  it  were,  deliver  me  up  with  my  hands  bound  behind 
my  back,  to  be  torn  in  pieces  day  by  day  by  the  monsters  that 
dwell  on  that  rock.  What  are  those  monsters  ?  Anger,  sadnesA, 
envy,  contention,  detraction,  accusation,  falsehood,  hypocrisy, 
snares,  aversion  to  those  who  have  done  us  no  wrong,  satis- 
faction at  the  disgrace  of  fellow-labourers  in  the  ministry,  grief 
at  their  success,  love  of  praise,  ambition  of  honours  (a  passion 
which  most  of  all  leads  the  soul  to  destruction),  preaching  to 
please,  servile  adulation,  ignoble  flattery,  contempt  of  the  poor, 
servility  towards  the  rich,  unreasonable  marks  of  respect,  blame- 
worthy tokens  of  gratitude,  as  dangerous  to  those  who  give  as 
to  those  who  receive  them,  servile  fear  befitting  only  the  meanest 
slaves,  the  absence  of  hberty,  the  appearance  of  humility  without 
the  reality,  no  courage  to  rebuke  and  admonish,  or  rather  un- 
measured severity  towards  the  poor,  while  hardly  daring  to  open 
one's  lips  to  those  in  power  (page  49). 

We  are  certain  that  Chrysostom  was  unjust  to  himself 


200  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


in  the  above  passage,  for  as  Bishop  of  Constantinople  he 
had  the  courage  to  rebuke  the  Empress  Eudoxia,  but  how 
marvellously  accurate  was  his  knowledge  of  poor  human 
nature.  In  another  passage  (page  58)  he  speaks  of  the 
office  itself  as  a  fiery  ordeal  :  — 

Men  [he  says]  ought  to  be  elected  whose  souls  are  such 
as  gi"ace  rendered  the  bodies  of  the  ancient  saints  in  the  furnace 
of  Babylon.  For  the  fuel  of  this  fire  is  not  wood,  pitch,  tow, 
but  far  worse  than  these  ;  for  it  is  not  palpable  fire  that  is  in 
question,  but  the  devouring  flame  of  envy  surrounds  the  priest 
spreading  on  all  sides  .  .  .  When  it  finds  the  smallest  trace  of 
stubble  it  immediately  seizes  on  it,  and  consumes  the  vitiated 
part,  and  begrimes  with  smoke  and  blackens  the  rest  of  the 
building  were  it  more  beautiful  than  the  rays  of  the  sun.  As 
long  as  the  life  of  a  priest  is  well  ordered,  he  is  exposed  to  no  such 
an  attack.  But  if  he  be  negligent  in  the  smallest  thing,  as  may 
easily  happen,  since  he  is  but  a  man,  voyaging  on  the  tempes- 
tuous sea  of  life,  his  past  good  works  are  powerless  to  protect 
him  from  the  tongues  of  accusers. 

And  in  truth  how  little  do  his  past  good  works  weigh 
with  men  when  they  sit  in  judgment  on  the  fault  of  a  human 
brother.  Here  is  a  passage  (page  74)  on  the  troubles  of 
the  Bishop  as  judge  and  patron,  which  shows  how  observant 
was  the  Deacon  of  Antioch  : — 

Again,  the  office  of  judge  occasions  innumerable  troubles, 
much  labour,  and  even  greater  difficulties  than  secular  judges 
have  to  meet  with.  For  it  is  difficult  to  find  out  the  law,  and 
when  found  out,  not  to  violate  it.  Not  only  is  there  labour 
and  difficulty,  but  there  is  also  no  small  risk.  For  there  are 
instances  of  some  of  the  weaker  brethren  who  have  made  ship- 
wreck of  the  faith,  because  having  got  into  trouble  they  could 
not  find  a  protector.  .  .  .  And  as  I  have  mentioned  patronage, 
allow  me  to  disclose  to  you  another  subject  of  complaint.  Unless 
the  Bishop  visits  daily,  even  more  than  seculars  do,  he  gives 
untold  offence.  Not  only  the  sick  but  the  healthy  also,  desire 
to  be  visited,  and  many  desire  it  not  from  a  motive  of  piety, 
but  rather  as  a  mark  of  honour  and  respect.  And  if,  perchance, 
for  a  special  reason  and  for  the  interest  of  the  Church,  he  visits 
the  rich  or  powerful  more  frequently,  at  once  he  gets  the  name 
of  a  courtier  or  a  flatterer.  But  why  speak  of  patronage  and 
visits,  even  salutations  occasion  such  annoying  complaints  as 
often  to  make  one  feel  depressed  and  discouraged.  For  people 
observe  even  one's  looks  ;  many  scrutinise  the  least  actions,  the 
tone  of  the  voice,  the  motion  of  the  eyes  and  one's  manner  of 


ST.  CHRYSOSTOM  ON  THE  PASTORAL  OFFICE  201 


laughter.  '  He  smiled  blandly,'  they  say,  '  to  such  a  one, 
and  saluted  him  with  a  cheerful  countenance  and  in  a  loud  voice, 
but  he  treated  me  with  less  ceremony  and  in  a  formal  way.' 

Chrysostom's  views  about  the  punishment  that  awaits 
the  negligent  pastor  are  not  in  the  least  softened  by  his 
appreciation  of  the  manifold  difficulties  and  trials  incident 
to  the  office.  Basil,  in  one  of  the  few  places  where  he 
speaks,  says  apropos  of  John's  expression  of  these  views, 
'  I  know  no  longer  where  I  am,  with  such  fear  and  terror 
have  your  words  inspired  me.' 

Speaking  of  pastoral  duties  Chrysostom  lays  special 
stress  on  sympathy  with  the  poor,  and  on  preaching.  After 
quoting  from  Eccles.  iv.  8,  '  Bow  down  thine  ear  cheerfully 
to  the  poor  and  answer  him  cheerful  words  with  mildness,' 
he  goes  on  to  say  : —    '       "  ' 

Though  one  does  not  withhold  the  means  of  support,  yet 
if  he  loads  them  with  reproaches,  if  he  insults  them  and  is  angry 
with  them,  he  is  so  far  from  reheving  them  by  his  alms,  that  he 
increases  their  sufferings  by  his  reproaches.  .  .  .  When,  there- 
fore, through  fear  of  hunger,  they  are  forced  to  beg,  and  in 
begging,  to  be  saucy,  and  then  have  to  suffer  insult  on  account 
of  their  boldness,  their  minds  are  clouded,  and  enveloped  in 
deep  gloom  and  dejection.  Now,  he  who  is  charged  with  their 
care  should  be  a  man  of  such  longanimity  that  he  will  not 
increase  their  affliction  by  his  indignation,  but  rather  alleviate 
it  by  words  of  consolation  (page  69). 

While  insisting  that  a  pastor  ought  to  be  a  good  manager, 
he  does  not  believe  in  laying  by  a  reserve  fund  which  may 
be  diverted  from  its  object.  '  What  is  contributed,'  he 
says,  '  should  be  immediately  distributed  to  the  poor  ;  and 
the  liberality  of  the  faithful  should  be  looked  upon  as  the 
treasury  of  the  Church  '  (page  70). 

V. 

What  he  says  about  preaching  is  worthy  of  special 
attention,  for  he  was  himself,  according  to  Bossuet,  the 
'  greatest  of  Christian  orators.'  His  views  on  this  as  on 
other  matters  are  not  in  the  nature  of  a  formal  essay, 
but  rather  the  practical  directions  of  a  man  who  knew 


202  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


from  experience  and  observation  what  he  was  talking 
about  : — 

After  good  example  [he  says]  there  is  but  one  instrument 
and  means  of  healing  ;  that  is  preaching.  This  is  the  instru- 
ment, this  the  regimen,  this  the  salubrious  climate,  this  serves 
as  medicine,  as  fire  and  knife.  If  it  be  necessary  to  burn  or  to 
cut  this  must  be  used,  and  if  it  fail  all  the  rest  is  useless  (page 
92). 

The  preacher  should,  in  his  view,  be  equal  to  the  task 
of  refuting  all  the  current  errors  of  his  time  : — 

For  [he  says]  we  have  to  prepare  not  for  one  kind  of 
combat,  but  for  a  warfare  waged  by  various  enemies  who  do  not 
all  use  the  same  weapons  nor  the  same  method  of  attack.  It 
behoves  him  who  has  to  engage  in  conflict  with  all,  to  know  the 
arts  of  all,  and  to  be  at  once  archer  and  slinger,  brigadier  and 
captain,  soldier  and  general,  foot-soldier  and  horseman.  .  .  . 
For  what  advantage  is  it  to  fight  nobly  against  the  Gentiles 
if  the  Jews  plunder  the  Church,  or  that  both  are  conquered  if 
the  Manicheans  ravage  it,  or  that  all  three  are  overcome  if  the 
Fatalists  slaughter  the  sheep  within  the  Fold. 

While  insisting  on  the  cultivation  of  the  oratorical  gift, 
he  is  still  more  emphatic  on  the  necessity  of  purity  of  in- 
tention and  his  views  on  these  subjects,  and  on  the  general 
trials  and  difficulties  of  a  great  public  preacher,  are  evidently 
taken  from  life.  Eloquence  was  in  those  days  the  standard 
of  excellence. 

Are  you  not  aware  [he  says]  of  the  great  passion  for  elo- 
quence which  has  taken  possession  of  the  minds  of  Christians, 
and  that  they  who  practise  it  are  held  in  honour  not  only  by 
those  without,  but  also  by  the  members  of  the  household  of  the 
faith.  Who  then  can  bear  the  disgrace  that  when  he  speaks 
all  are  still  and  seem  bored,  and  look  forward  to  the  conclusion 
of  the  discourse  as  the  end  of  their  suffering. 

One  wonders  that  such  a  close  observer  did  not  note  the 
coughing,  if  this  means  of  relief  was  then  known.  Hence, 
he  argues  the  necessity  of  cultivating  eloquence.  But  even 
the  great  orator  was  nor,  in  his  view,  without  serious  trials. 
Many  of  the  audience  came,  it  seems,  as  to  a  theatre  to  be 
electrified,  or  at  least  to  be  tickled,  and,  of  course,  criticised 
the  relative  merits  of  different  preachers.  This  occasioned 
a  temptation  to  aim  at  pleasing  rather  than  instructing  and 


ST.  CHRYSOSTOM  ON  THE  PASTORAL  OFFICE  203 


reproving.  Furthermore,  a  great  preacher  might  not  be  in 
form  on  a  particular  occasion  and  would  be  obliged  to 
swallow  the  bitter  pill  of  dispraise. 

Hence  [says  Chrysostom],  when  an  orator  surpasses  all 
others  in  talent,  he  must  study  and  labour  more  than  others. 
Not  to  succeed  always  in  everything,  which  is  the  common  lot 
of  men,  is  not  permitted  to  him  ;  for  if  his  discourse  does  not 
come  up  to  his  reputation,  he  is  scoffed  at  and  censured  by  the 
public  .  .  .  Moreover,  men  are  wont  to  overlook  the  good  quali- 
ties of  their  neighbour,  however  numerous  and  great ;  but  if  any 
defect  appears,  be  it  ever  so  slight  or  long  past,  they  soon  perceive 
it,  lay  hold  on  it  and  never  forget  it.  And  that  defect,  though 
small  and  trivial,  often  dims  the  glory  of  many  distinguished 
men  (page  112). 

Another  trial  of  the  orator  in  those  days  was  the  envy 
excited  by  his  reputa.tion  in  the  minds  of  the  lesser  lumi- 
naries. '  Those,'  according  to  our  author,  '  do  not  exercise 
their  vengeance  in  person  only.  They  try  to  do  so  by  means 
of  others,  and  sometimes  they  take  up  a  man  destitute  of 
oratorical  talent,  praise  and  admire  him  beyond  his  deserts 
.  .  .  not  to  praise  the  man  who  does  not  deserve  it  but 
to  destroy  the  reputation  of  the  other,  (page  113).  Two 
remedies  are  all  that  Chrysostom  suggests  against  the  many 
difficulties  and  trials  incident  to  the  discharge  of  this  great 
pastoral  duty,  '  contempt  of  praise  and  a  talent  for 
oratory.' 

'  For  if  one  of  the  two,'  he  says,  '  be  wanting,  that  which 
remains  is  useless  without  the  other  .  .  .'  (page  108). 
Beyond  insisting  on  a  knowledge  of  Sacred  Scripture,  on 
careful  preparation  of  one's  discourse,  and  '  on  constant 
labour  in  cultivating  a  talent  for  oratory,'  he  lays  down 
no  precise  rules  for  the  composition  of  a  sermon.  His  own 
numerous  sermons  are  homiletic  in  form  and  are.  perhaps, 
more  remarkable  for  directness  of  aim  than  elegance  of 
phrase.  I  shall  allow  one  of  his  admirers  to  speak  about 
the  character  of  Chrysostom's  preaching  : — 

Great  as  was  his  gift  of  oratory,  it  was  not  by  the  fertility 
of  his  imagination  or  the  splendour  of  his  diction  that  he  gained 
the  surname  of  the  '  Mouth  of  Gold.'  We  shall  be  very  wrong  if 
we  suppose  that  fine  expression,  or  rounded  periods,  or  figures 


204  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


of  speech  were  the  credentials  by  which  he  claimed  to  be  the 
first  doctor  of  the  East.  His  oratorical  power  was  but  the 
instrument  by  which  he  readily,  gracefully,  and  adequately 
expressed, — expressed  without  effort  and  with  facility — the 
keen  feelings,  the  living  ideas,  the  earnest  practical  lessons  which 
he  had  to  communicate  to  his  hearers.  He  spoke  because  his 
heart,  his  head  were  brimful  of  things  to  speak  about.  His 
elocution  corresponded  to  that  strength  and  flexibility  of  limb, 
that  quickness  of  eye,  hand,  and  foot,  by  which  a  man  excels 
in  manly  games  or  in  mechanical  skill.  It  would  be  a  great 
mistake,  in  speaking  of  it,  to  ask  whether  it  was  Attic  or  Asiatic, 
terse  or  flowing,  when  its  distinctive  praise  was  that  it  was 
natural.  His  unrivalled  charm,  as  that  of  every  really  eloquent 
man,  lies  in  his  singleness  of  purpose,  his  fixed  grasp  of  his  aim, 
his  noble  earnestness.'" 

On  the  second  remedy,  viz.,  a  '  contempt  of  praise,'  he 
is  exceedingly  insistent,  showing  evidently  that  he  felt 
himself  its  necessity  : — 

Let  not  the  preacher  [he  says,  at  page  114]  give  heed  to 
the  praise  of  the  people,  nor  lose  heart  if  it  fail  him.  But  while 
he  make  it  the  purpose  of  his  discourse  to  please  God — for  this 
and  not  the  applause  of  men  should  be  the  guide  and  only  aim 
of  his  best  efforts — should  he  be  praised,  let  him  not  despise  the 
praise,  and  should  he  receive  no  applause  from  his  audience, 
let  him  not  seek  it  or  feel  hurt.  ...  If  the  preacher  permits 
himself  to  be  carried  away  by  a  desire  of  praise,  his  labour  and 
his  talent  will  profit  him  nothing  For  the  mind  that  cannot 
bear  the  foolish  criticism  of  the  people  becomes  discouraged  and 
loses  zeal  for  preaching. 

In  another  place  he  says  : — 

A  priest  should  have  for  his  people  the  sentiments  of  a 
father  for  his  children.  And  as  we  are  not  concerned  when 
children  insult  and  strike  us  and  lament,  nor  are  we  elated  when 
they  laugh  and  rejoice  with  us  ;  so  a  priest  ought  not  to  be 
elated  by  the  praise  of  the  people,  nor  cast  down  by  their  un- 
reasonable dispraise. 

At  the  same  time  no  one  knew  better  than  he  how 
difficult  of  attainment  is  this  philosophic  indifference.  For 
he  adds,  '  This,  my  dear  friend,  is  a  matter  of  difficulty,  or 
rather  I  think  it  is  perhaps  impossible.  For  not  to  feel 
pleased  at  being  praised  is,  I  am  inclined  to  think,  what  has 


^  Ne\Nma,n's  Historical  Sketches :  St  Chrysostom. 


ST.  CHRYSOSTOM  ON  THE  PASTORAL  OFFICE  205 


happened  to  no  man.'  The  harm  is  when  a  man  cannot  get 
on  without  this  stimulant,  and  is  dejected  and  desolate 
when  it  is  not  forthcoming  for,  as  Chrysostom  adds,  '  dejec- 
tion and  constant  anxiety  are  capable  of  destroying  strength 
of  soul  and  leading  to  utter  weakness.'  Here  then  we  find 
ourselves  thinking  of  Newman's  direction,  that  a  preacher 
is  not  to  aim  even  at  eloquence  but  always  at  his  end — • 
viz.,  the  spiritual  good  of  his  hearers. 

Such,  in  brief,  are  Chrysostom's  views  on  the  Pastoral 
Office.    Composed  towards  the  close  of  the  fourth  century 
are  they  not  singularly   modern    in  their   application  ? 
Written  in  defence  of  his  conduct  in  escaping  the  dignity 
and  responsibility  to  which  he  thought  himself  unequal, 
they  prove  how  eminently  fitted  he  was  to  rule  in  the  Church 
of  God.    Later  on,  when  called  to  fill  the  episcopal  throne 
of  Constantinople,  he  realised  in  his  own  person  the  ideal 
of  a  bishop  he  had  conceived  when  a  monk,  and  experienced 
all  the  trials  and'difhculties  which  he  had  anticipated  ;  but, 
far  from  failing,  he  died  a  saint, leaving  behuid  him  a  glorious 
example  of  the  character  and  virtues  of  a  good  pastor. 
Weak  and  small  in  body,  he  was  a  man  of  extraordinary 
energy.  Butler  says  that  he  preached  every  day  in  Lent.  It 
is  Potter,  I  think,  who  says  that  he  abstained  from  giving 
dinners,  that  he  might  be  more  free  to  attend  to  his  work,  but 
still,  it  should  be  added,  kept  an  open  hospitable  house  for 
strangers.    He  was  unwearied  in  his  care  for  the  poor. 
Though  loved  by  the  people,  he  was  detested  by  the  lax 
section  of  the  clergy  whose  manners  he  tried  to  reform,  and 
his  fearless  denunciation  of  the  Court  vices  cost  him  that 
long  weary  journey  to  the  shores  of  the  Euxine,  which  is 
graphically  and  sympathetically  described  by  Newman  in 
his  Historical  Sketches.     While  referring  the  reader  to  New- 
man's charming  essay  for  an  appreciation  of  Chrysostom's 
character,  I  feel  justified  in  recommending  Father  Boyle's 
translation  to  those  who  would  wish  to  look  into  the  great 
soul  of  the  man  Chrysostom,  for  the  author  of  this  old 
classic  treatise  on  the  mission  of  the  Priesthood  is  nothing 
if  not  candid  in  what  he  says  about  himself  as  well  as  in 
what  he  says  about  the  milieu  in  which  he  lived. 

T.  P.  GiLMARTIN. 


[    206  ] 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  SCAPULAR-II 

(From  Original  Sources.) 

HABIT  OR  SCAPULAR  ? 

IT  must  have  struck  our  readers  that  Svvanyngton  does 
not  so  much  as  mention  the  scapular.  According  to  him 
Our  Lady  appeared  to  St.  Simon  holding  the  habit  of 
the  Order  {ienendo  hahitum  Ordinis).  The  saint  threw  his 
habit  over  the  sick  man  at  Winchester  [injecto  habitu  super 
languentem)  who  was  also  preserved  against  the  attacks  of 
the  Evil  One  by  the  habit  of  the  Blessed  Father  {per  habitum 
beati  viri)  ;  the  Bishop  of  Winchester  decided  upon  question- 
ing Blessed  Simon  as  to  the  virtues  of  his  habit  [de  virtuts 
habitus),  and  numerous  grandees  desired  to  die  in  the  holy 
habit  {desiderantes  mori  in  habitu  sancto  Ordinis).  On  the 
other  hand,  Sibert  de  Beka,  whose  account  dates  from 
about  1312/  says  that : — 

Our  Lady  was  seen  bringing  the  religious  habit  from  heaven 
which  she  handed  him,  saying,  '  There  is  no  ground  to  fear. 
Behold  the  scapidar  of  thy  Order  .  .  .'  Simon,  having  received 
this  pledge,  put  it  on  his  shoulders  and  afterwards  distributed 
it  to  the  brethren  that  they  might  wear  it  also.-^ 

William  of  Coventry  reports  likewise  that  the  Blessed 
Virgin  appeared  to  St.  Simon  '  holding  the  scapular  of  the 


^  Bale  asserts  that  the  chapter  in  question  is  taken  from  Sibert,  and  there 
is  no  reason  to  question  his  words.  The  legend  of  the  saint  by  Roland 
Bouchier  (MS.  Bodley  73,  fol.  93a),  contains  the  identical  words,  but  authors 
of  Breviary  lessons  are  not  supposed  to  be  original,  and  in  the  matter  before 
us  he  may  have  borrowed  from  Sibert  as  well  as  from  other  sources.  Although 
Bale  had  no  analytical  gifts,  he  was  wonderfully  care'ful  in  transcribing  notes, 
and  whenever  he  does  make  a  mistake  it  is  generally  possible  to  discover  the 
origin  of  the  error.    We  therefore  unhesitatingly  accept  Bale's  statement. 

2  ' .  ;  .  .  religionis  habitum  a  coelis  afferre  visa  est ;  quem  Symoni 
elargiens  Non  est  quod  timeas,  inquit,  en  tibi  hoc  tui  ordinis  Scapulare  .  .  . 
Acceptum  pignus  in  humeros  ponit  id  fratribus  deinceps  utendum  distribuit. 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  SCAPULAR 


207 


Order  in  her  blessed  hands,'  etc.*  Otherwise  his  account 
is  more  sober  than  Sibert's  and  the  words  attributed  to  the 
Blessed  Virgin  are  identical  with  those  given  by  Swanyngton, 
so  that  we  may  suppose  that  Coventry,  although  writing 
considerably  later  than  Sibert,  followed  a  purer  source, 
perhaps  the  report  of  a  contemporary  of  St.  Simon,  whereas 
Sibert's  version  seems  to  have  passed  through  many  hands 
before  being  put  on  record.  All  the  later  writers  attach 
the  promise  to  the  scapular  which,  according  to  them.  Our 
Lady  brought  from  heaven  and  handed  to  St.  Simon.  This 
form  of  the  tradition  became  so  deeply  rooted  and  yet 
remains  so,  that  in  some  countries  there  still  exists  a  behef 
that  the  original  scapular  given  by  the  Mother  of  God  to  the 
saint  and  actually  worn  by  him  is  preserved  to  the  present 
day  in  some  Catholic  family  in  England. 

For  us  who  have  to  deal  with  a  purely  historical  ques- 
tion Swanyngton's  version  appears  to  be  the  true  one.  St. 
Simon  had  asked  Our  Lady  for  a  privilege  for  the  brethren 
who  were  disconsolate  on  account  of  the  persecution  and  so 
discouraged  that  some  had  already  left  the  Order  and  others 
were  anxious  to  do  so  ;  he  also  wished  to  obtain  some  sign 
of  her  benevolence  which  would  commend  the  Order  to  those 
who  were  opposing  it.  Our  Lady  pointed  out  the  religious 
habit  as  the  privilege  :  those  who  die  in  it  shall  not  suffer 
everlasting  fire.  Unless  we  completely  misunderstand  her 
words,  she  assured  those  who  wore  the  habit  of  the  Order 
specially  dedicated  to  her  of  her  maternal  protection. 
Surely  there  was  no  need  to  give  them  a  new  kind  of  gar- 
ment to  which  this  promise  should  be  more  especially 
attached  :  the  wearing  of  the  habit  of  the  Order  being  quite 
sufficient.  There  is  a  general  axiom  in  dealing  with  super- 
natural events  that  miracles  must  not  be  multiplied  beyond 
what  is  strictly  necessary,  since  God  works  no  miracles 
where  ordinary  means  are  sufficient  ;  for  the  miracle  is 


3  William  de  Coventry  flourished  about  the  year  1348.  He  was  known  by 
the  surname  Claudus  Conversus,  having  been  lamed  by  an  arrowshot,  in  con- 
sequence of  which  he  turned  to  God  according  to  the  psalmvers  conversus  sum 
in  aerumiia  mca  dum  configitiir  spina.  Unfortunately  we  possess  only  a  short 
quotation  from  his  Scutum  Carmelitarum.  '  Cui  IJeatissima  Virgo  .  .  . 
apparuit  Scapulare  ordinis  in  benedictis  manibus  suis  tenens  et  dicens.  .  .  .' 


208  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


always  an  exception  to  the  rule,  whether  this  rule  be  the 
physical  law  of  nature  or  the  moral  law. 

A  little  reflection  will  convince  us  that  St.  Simon  must 
have  understood  the  matter  in  this  way.  When  he  '  threw 
his  habit  over  the  sick  man  '  can  we  imagine  that  he  first 
took  off  his  mantle,  next  his  hood,  and  finally  his  scapular 
and  passed  this  over  the  shoulders  of  the  unconscious  noble- 
man ?  Surely  the  very  idea  is  inconceivable.^  Swanyng- 
ton's  words  injedo  habiiu,  together  with  ordinary  common 
sense,  lead  us  to  suppose  that  he  simply  took  off  his  mantle 
and  threw  it  over  Walter  de  Linton.  But  the  question  arises, 
how  then  did  the  Carmelites,  even  from  the  beginning  cf  the 
fourteenth  century,  come  to  consider  the  scapular,  of  all  parts 
of  their  habit,  to  be  the  vehiculmn  of  Our  Lady's  promise  ? 

Under  ordinary  circumstances  the  promise  of  Our  Lady, 
if  it  was  to  be  attached  to  one  portion  of  the  religious 
garment  more  than  to  another,  would  certainly  have  been 
connected  with  the  mantle  as  the  distinguishing  feature  of 
the  Carmelite  Order.  They  were  the  Whitefriars  on  account 
of  their  white  mantle  notwithstanding  the  dark  habit,  just 
as  the  Dominicans  were  the  Blackfriars  owing  to  the  black 
mantle  in  spite  of  the  white  habit.  But  when  St.  Simon 
received  Our  Lady's  promise,  he  wore  no  white  mantle  but 
a  striped  one  which  was  exchanged  for  the  white  one  some 
twenty  years  after  his  death.  There  exists  an  old  tradition 
that  orignally  the  Carmelites  did  wear  white  mantles  which, 
however,  they  were  obliged  to  abandon  at  the  pressure  of  the 
Saracens  who  considered  the  white  colour  as  the  distinguish- 
ing mark  of  their  own  grandees.  It  does  not  concern  us  at 
present  at  what  particular  time  this  exchange  took  place, 
certain  it  is  that  at  their  coming  to  Europe  they  wore  a 
mantle  composed  of  four  white  and  three  black  vertical 
stripes,  whence  a  contemporary  author  says  : 

De  Carmelo  veniunt  fratres  virgulati 
Hi,  ut  vulgo  dicitur,  fratres  sunt  beati."^ 

*  The  translator  of  Fr.  R.Clarke's  articles  in  the  Month  (1886),  '  Le 
Scapulaire  de  Notre  Dame  du  Mont  Carmel',  Nemours,  1899,  renders  the 
expression  '  injecto  habitu  '  by  '  ayant  passe  le  saint  habit  sur  les  ^paules  du 
malade  '  (p.  xlv).    This  certainly  goes  beyond  the  original. 

*  Pertz,  Scriptt.  xxv.,  p,  358. 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  SCAPULAR 


Various  explanations  have  been  given  for  this  curious 
mantle.  By  some  authors  it  was  supposed  to  represent  the 
four  Gospels  and  the  three  religious  virtues,  by  others,  even 
by  a  general  chapter,  the  seven  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
while  others  again  thought  that  the  black  stripes  signified 
the  marks  of  fire  left  on  his  mantle  when  the  prophet  Elias 
threw  it  from  the  fiery  chariot  to  Eliseus  ;  and  this  opinion, 
though  violently  attacked  in  the  fourteenth  century,  is  still 
to  be  met  with  in  certain  parts  of  the  Carmelite  liturgy  at 
the  end  of  the  following  century." 

However  that  may  be  the  Carmelites  were  not  very 
proud  of  their  singular  appearance,  and  obtained  from  Pope 
Honcfnus  IV.  a  verbal  permission  to  exchange  the  striped 
mantle  for  a  purely  white  one.  But  the  Pope,  having  died 
before  they  were  able  to  give  effect  to  their  design,  affidavits 
from  the  cardinal  who  had  negociated  the  matter  were  ob- 
tained in  view  of  the  not  improbable  opposition  on  the  part 
of  other  white  religious.  On  the  feast  of  St.  Mary  Magdalen, 
1287,  the  general  chapter  assembled  at  Montpellier  decreed 
the  substitution  of  the  white  mantle  for  the  striped  carpeta. 
The  change  was  proclaimed  for  the  English  province  at  a 
provincial  chapter  held  on  the  feast  of  the  Exaltation  of  the 
Holy  Cross  at  Lincoln.  Opposition  was  not  wanting.  The 
chronicler  of  Osney  speaks  thus  of  the  affair  : — 

In  the  same  year  the  friars  of  Mount  Carinel,  nobody  knows 
on  whose  authority  or  for  what  reason,  except  perhaps  driven 
by  their  own  vanity,  left  off  their  double-coloured  square  mantles 
rather  shamelessly  in  order  to  resume  their  ancient  habit  which 
they  used  to  wear  from  the  first  establishment  of  the  Order,  and, 
instead  of  the  pallium,  they  began  to  wear  thenceforth  white 
manties  (cappas  dausas  Candidas).'' 

Nearly  all  the  chronicles  of  that  time  mention  the  matter 
for  the  change  could  escape  no  observer  ;  but  the  real  opposi- 


'  Helisee  Carmelita,  vestis  tua  dispertita 
Fratres  tuos  ornet  ita,  virtuose  ut  cum  vita 

Heredes  sint  etherei. 
Pallium  latum  per  Heliam  Heliseo  per  aurigam 
Igneum  quid  transfert;ir.' 
From  the  Office  of  St.  Eliseus  {Brcvariiiin  Carmclitanuin ,  Brussels,  1480). 

Rolls'  Series,  Annahs  Moiiastici,  iv. ,  312. 
VOL.  XV.  O 


210  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


tion  came  from  the  Premonstratensians  who  thought  they 
alone  had  the  right  of  wearing  white.  The  Carmehtes  have 
always  considered  the  resumption  of  the  white  mantles  as 
one  of  the  greatest  privileges  bestowed  upon  them  by  their 
heavenly  patroness.  Sibert  evidently  mixed  up  the  ques- 
tion of  the  scapular  with  that  of  the  mantle  when  in  the 
report  alread}^  quoted  he  says  : — 

'  There  is  no  ground  to  fear,'  etc.  This  she  said  partly  lest 
the  weaker  among  the  brethren  should  be  shocked,  and  partly 
lest  calumniators  should  have  an  occasion  for  detraction,  for 
they  had  repeatedly  asserted  that  those  who  were  to  introduce 
a  different  kind  of  garment  from  that  worn  by  the  brethren  in 
general  were  sure  to  be  damned." 

If,  then,  the  tardy  introduction  of  the  white  mantle 
prevented  its  being  considered  the  vehiculum  of  Our  Lady's 
promise,  how  came  the  scapular  to  be  singled  out  as  the 
means  whereby  the  special  privilege  is  conveyed  ?  All 
those  who  have  written  on  this  subject,  with  the  exception 
of  Swanyngton,  were  of  opinion  that  previous  to  the  vision 
of  St.  Simon  Stock  it  was  not  in  use  in  the  Order.  But 
there  is  no  real  evidence  that  it  was  introduced  there  and 
then.  No  one  knows  better  than  the  present  writer  how 
delicately  the  argtimentum  a  silentio  should  be  handled  on 
account  of  the  extremely  unsatisfactory  state  of  our  old 
records.  The  majority  of  our  historians  from  the  thirteenth 
century  until  quite  lately  have  wasted  their  time  and  energy 
upon  interminable  discussions  on  the  antiquity  of  the  Order 
and  have  neglected,  over  this  burning  question,  the  more 
profitable  work  of  collecting  and  sifting  sources  for  contem- 
porary history.  Nevertheless  it  is  inconceivable  that  the 
introduction  of  a  new  kind  of  garment  could  have  been 
passed  over  quite  so  silently.  The  scapular,  be  it  remem- 
bered, was  in  use  long  before  the  thirteenth  century  ;  the 
Benedictines  wore  it  ever  since  the  days  of  their  founder 
who  considered  it  merely  as  an  apron  for  the  protection  of 
the  habit  during  manual  labour  in  the  field  and  workshop. 
The  Carthusians,  too,  had  it  from  the  first  establishment  of 


^  Loc.  cit.  'Nam  saepius  judicarant  damnandos  hos  qui  aliud  indumenti 
genus  usurpaverant  quam  a  communi  vulgo  susceptutn  fuerat.' 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  SCAPULAR  211 


their  Order,  and  the  Dominicans  adopted  it  in  1218  at  the 
instigation  of  Our  Lady  lierself.  It  had  then  long  ceased 
to  serve  as  apron  having  acquired  a  more  mystical  meaning. 
Some  of  the  most  weighty  historians  of  the  Carmelite  Order 
think  that  even  before -the  time  of  St.  Simon  Stock  it  formed 
part  of  their  religious  habit,  and,  although  the  reasons  on 
which  their  opinion  is  founded  might  not  be  universally 
accepted,  we  believe  that  they  are  right.  It  therefore 
remains  for  us  to  search  for  the  grounds  upon  which  it 
became  speciallv  connected  with  Our  Lady's  promise. 
And  these  we  hnd  in  the  rite  used  in  the  profession  of 
novices. 

The  oldest  manuscript  containing  this  ceremony  is,  as 
far  as  we  know,  a  copy  of  the  Constitutions  and  the  acts  of 
the  general  chapters,  ]pegun  in  1324  and  completed  in  1362, 
now  belonging  to  the  British  Museum. The  rite  in  ques- 
tion appears  twice  with  insignificant  variants,  namely,  on 
a  fly-leaf  at  the  beginning  of  the  volume  and  in  the  body  of 
the  Constitutions,  Rubric  XIV.  As  to  the  clothing  of  a 
novice,  the  following  ceremony  was  observed.  The  day  of 
the  clothing  having  arrived,  the  postulant  made  a  general 
confession  to  the  master  of  novices  and  prepared  for  Com- 
munion. He  was  then  shorn,  or,  in  the  case  of  choir  breth- 
ren, tonsured,  and,  having  put  on  the  footgear  of  the  Order, 
vested  himself  in  the  tunic,  i.e.,  the  long  brown  habit,  over 
which  he  wore  some  kind  of  secular  dress.  Thus  attired, 
he  was  led  to  the  chapter-house,  where  in  the  presence  of 
the  whole  community  he  had  to  answer  certain  questions 
put  by  the  prelate.  This  done,  the  latter  said  :  '  May  God 
bring  to  perfection  what  He  hath  begun  in  thee.'  The 
community  answered  '  Amen.'  Prelate  :  '  May  God  divest 
thee  of  the  old  man  with  all  his  actions.'  Brethren  :  'Amen.' 
At  these  words  the  secular  dress  was  removed  and  the  novice 
received,  without  any  words  of  blessing  being  pronounced, 
the  full  religious  habit.  Holy  water  was  not  used  for  this 
ceremony.    A  procession  now  formed  and  the  ncwly-clothcd 


*  Lacordaire,  Vic  de  St.  Dominique,  p.  316. 
"  MS.  Add.  16.372. 


212  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


novice  was  led  to  the  choir  where  the  hymn  Veni  Creator, 
was  sung  together  with  a  number  of  invocations  followed  by 
certain]prayers.  After  this  he  was  sprinkled  with  holy  water 
and  he  then  kissed  the  altar,  embraced  the  prior  and  all  the 
brethren  and  finally,  during  the  High  Mass,  received  Holy 
Communion. 

When  the  year  of  probation  had  expired  and  the  com- 
munity were  satisfied  with  the  behaviour  of  the  novice,  he 
was  admitted  to  profession.  The  day  having  come,  he  was 
vested  in  the  tunic  without  scapular  or  mantle,  and  was  led 
to  the  chapter-house.  Once  more  certain  questions  were 
put  to  him  to  ascertain  that  no  canonical  impediment  stood 
in  the  way  of  his  profession,  and,  having  given  satisfactory 
answers,  he  knelt  down  in  front  of  the  prior  and  putting  his 
hands  in  his,  pronounced  the  form  of  profession.  The  prior 
then  said  :  '  May  God  bring  to  perfection  what  He  hath  begun 
in  Thee.'  Choir  :  '  Amen.'  Prior  :  '  Show  unto  us  0  Lord 
Thy  mercy,'  etc.  Then  follows  a  long  prayer  after  which  the 
prior  sprinkles  the  newly  professed  with  holy  water,  saying  : 
'  In  the  Name  of  the  Father,'  etc.  The  prior  then  gives 
him  the  habit  with  the  words  :  '  Receive  this  habit  unto 
the  remission  of  thy  sins  and  the  increase  of  holy  religion. 
In  the  Name  of  the  Father,'  etc.  He  likewise  gives  him  the 
mantle,  saying  :  '  Receive  this  mantle  the  sign  of  our  religion 
unto  the  remission  of  thy  sins.  In  the  Name  of  the  Father,' 
etc."  Then  follows  another  long  prayer  after  which  the 
holy  water  is  used  once  more  and  the  ceremony  in  the  chapter 
house  ends,  and  is  continued  in  the  choir  as  at  the  clothing. 

We  have  here  the  key  to  the  whole  question.  Since  the 
novice  when  coming  to  chapter  already  wears  the  tunic, 
the  habit  properly  so-called,  it  stands  to  reason  that  the 
garment  offered  him  by  the  prior  with  the  words  :  '  Receive 


11  '  Accipe  hanc  cappam  nostrae  religionis  signum  in  remissionem  pecca- 
torum  tuorum.  In  nomine  Patris,'  etc.  Elsewhere  :  '  Accipe  hoc  signum  in 
remissionem,'  etc.  From  this  wording  it  clearly  appears  that  this  form  was 
introduced  between  1287  and  1324,  i.e.,  between  the  change  of  mantles  and  the 
date  of  our  MS.  The  conclusion  lies  near  that  previous  to  1287,  there  was 
only  the  one  form  '  Accipe  hunc  habitum  in  remissionem  peccatorum  tuorum 
et  sanctae  religionis  augmentum.  In  nomine  Patris,'  etc.,  and  that  this  served 
for  all  the  parts  of  the  habit. 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  SCAPULAR 


213 


this  habit,'  etc.,  is  in  reahty  the  scapular  which  thus  came 
to  be  considered  as  the  emblem  of  the  religious  habit. 

That  this  view  of  the  matter  is  correct  can,  we  think,  b".' 
further  proved  if  we  examine  the  official  utterances  of  the 
Order  on  the  scapular. 

In  1462  the  then  General,  Blessed  John  Soreth,  pub- 
lished new  constitutions  ^'^  embodying  the  various  reforms 
he  had  carried  out  during  his  tenure  of  office.  Among  other 
things  he  introduced  an  entirely  new  rite  for  the  clothing  of 
postulants  and  the  profession  of  novices,  which  in  the  main 
is  still  in  use  both  among  the  Calced  Carmelites  (of  the  old 
observance)  and  the  Discalced  friars  and  nuns  of  St.  Teresa's 
reform.  This  new  form,  however,  was  not  introduced  by 
the  reform  of  Mantua  and,  since  most  of  the  liturgical  books 
of  the  Order  printed  between  1490  and  1584  (when  the 
Carmelite  liturgy  was  adapted  to  the  new  Roman  revision) 
were  edited  by  members  of  that  Congregation,  the  old  rite 
will  be  found  in  the  Breviaries  of  1490,  1495,  1504,  etc. 

In  Soreth's  rite  the  postulant  receives  from  the  hand  of 
the  prior  the  various  parts  of  the  religious  habit,  each  with 
a  special  form  of  blessing.  For  the  tunic  :  '  May  the  Lord 
put  on  thee  the  new  man  who  is  created  according  to  God 
in  justice  and  holiness  of  truth.'  For  the  cincture  :  '  When 
thou  wast  younger  thou  didst  gird  thyself  and  didst  walk 
where  thou  wouldst,  but  when  thou  shalt  be  old  another 
shall  gird  thee  and  lead  thee  whither  thou  wouldst  not.' 
Imposing  the  scapular  with  the  hood  not  sewn  on  to  dis- 
tinguish novices  from  professed  brethren,  he  says  :  '  Bear 
the  yoke  of  Christ  which  is  sweet  and  His  burden  which  is 
light.'  Imposing  the  mantle  he  says  :  '  They  that  follow 
the  Lamb  without  stain  shall  walk  with  Him  in  white  gar- 
ments. Therefore,  let  thy  garments  be  ever  white  as  a  sign 
of  inward  purity.'  At  the  profession  the  same  form  of  bless- 
ing was  used,  except  that  the  one  given  above  for  the  tunic 
was  used  for  the  scapular  (with  the  hood  sewn  on)  :  '  May 


"MS.  Add.  11,4:^6.  There  are  some  sixteenth-century  additions,  but  the 
Rule  and  Constitutions  were  written  in  1462,  and  were  printed  in  1499  at 
Venice,  and  are  now  extremely  rare. 


214 


THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


the  Lord  put  on  thee  the  new  man,'  etc.,  and  the  one  about 
the  yoke  of  Christ  was  left  out. 

Surely  no  stronger  proof  could  be  required  that  as  late 
as  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century  the  Order  did  not 
officially  consider  the  scapular  as  the  special  vehiculum  of 
Our  Lady's  promise,  tlian  this  portion  of  the  Carmelite 
ritual.  Nothing  could  have  been  easier  for  Soreth  than  to 
choose  a  form  expressive  of  the  mystical  meaning  of  the 
scapular,  instead  of  which  he  attaches  in  one  place  one  and 
in  the  other  a  second  form  to  it,  neither  having  any  reference 
to  the  promise  in  question. 

Turning  to  another  part  of  the  Constitutions  we  find,  in 
Rubric  VI.  of  the  edition  of  1324.  and  in  Part  L  Rubric  VI. 
of  those  of  1462,  an  equally  strong  confirmation  of  the  same 
point.  The  rubric  in  both  places  is  headed  :  '  On  the  Sleeping 
of  the  Brethren,'  and  begins  as  follows  :  '  We  ordain  that  our 
brethren  when  going  to  sleep  should  under  all  circumstances 
wear  the  tunic  and  scapular  under  penalty  of  a  grievous  fault, 
excepting  the  sick  who  may,  or  may  not,  wear  the  scapular 
according  to  their  own  choice.'  ^'^  If  the  Order  had  con- 
sidered the  scapular  as  the  most  essential  part  of  the  habit 
it  would  have  been  even  more  important  for  the  sick  than 
for  the  sound  to  wear  it.  Thus  our  present  Constitutions 
as  revised  and  approved  in  1631  prescribe  (Part  I.,  Chap.  X., 
No.  19)  : '  Finally  let  no  one,  whether  sound  or  sick,  ever  take 
off  his  habit,  i.e.,  his  scapular,  but  the  sick  may  use  a  lighter 
one.' 

Towards  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century  a  dispute  arose 
as  to  the  proper  colour  of  the  habit,  brown,  dark,  or  black, 
according  to  the  various  congregations  and  reforms.  The 
general  chapter  of  1472  prescribed  in  connection  with  this 
question  that  the  lay-brothers,  to  be  more  easily  distin- 
guished from  their  Dominican  confreres,  should  wear  a  black 
habit  with  a  white  scapular,  the  Dominicans  wearing  a  white 
habit  with  a  black  scapular.  It  need  hardly  be  said  that  so 
unpractical  a  decision  was  never  carried  out. 


'Statuimus  quod  fratres  in  tunica  et  scapulari  dormiant  supracincti 
sub  pena  gravis  culpe.  Exceptis  infirmis  quorum  relinquimus  arbitrio  ut 
scapulare  induant  vel  deponant.' 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  SCAPULAR  215 


Finally,  the  way  in  which  the  chapter  of  1524  speaks  of 
the  scapular  suggests,  not  the  instrument  of  Our  Lady's 
protection  but  rather  the  '  sweet  yoke  of  the  Lord.'  The 
passage  occurs  in  a  series  of  regulations  for  the  reform  of 
the  Order  :  '  Let  there  be  in  each  convent  some  assistants 
of  the  prior  or  master  of  the  reform  whose  duty  it  is  to  see 
that  the  brethren  accustom  themselves  to  keep  their  hands 
under  the  Pazienza  or  scapular.' "  By  what  train  of  ideas 
the  scapular  came  by  this  peculiar  name  we  cannot  even  guess, 
but  it  certainly  has  no  connection  with  the  great  promise 
with  which  it  is  now  identified. 

To  sum  up  :  While  strongly  upholding  the  reality  of  St. 
Simon's  vision  and  Our  Lady's  promise,  we  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  it  has  reference  to  the  habit  in  general  and 
not  to  the  scapular  in  particular.  From  a  very  early  date 
popular  accounts  have  represented  Our  Lady  as  bringing 
a  scapular  from  heaven,  but  Swanyngton  is  distinctly  of  a 
different  opinion.  The  present  substitution  of  the  scapular 
for  the  full  habit  arises  from  the  fact  that  it  was  the  portion 
of  the  religious  habit  given  to  novices  at  their  profession 
with  the  words  :  Accipe  hunc  hahitum,  etc.,  but  other  official 
utterances  prove  clearly  that  the  Order  did  not  connect  Our 
Lady's  promise  with  it  in  preference  to  the  other  parts  of 
the  Carmelite  habit. 

,  THE  CONFRATERNITY 

The  principal  question  concerning  the  scapular,  however, 
is  not  how  it  affects  the  members  of  the  Carmelite  Order, 
but  what  effect  it  has  on  those  who  do  not  belong  to  that 
Order.  The  primary  motive  which  leads  people  to  the 
cloister  is  the  desire  of  doing  everything  in  one's  power  to 
assure  salvation — the  religious  state  being  not  only  a  state 
or  perfection,  but  also  one  of  security.  If  the  religious  life 
is  strict  and  sometimes  hard,  it  still  presents  so  many  oppor- 
tunities that  a  final  falling  away  is  a  rare  exception.  More- 
over, most  Orders  glory  in  some  revelation  or  supernatural 


' ' ' . 
sive  scapulari.' 


faciant  quod  fratres  assuescant  tenere  manus  sub  patientia 


21 6  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


assurance  that  those  who  persevere  in  the  rehgious  life  will 
go  to  heaven.    Thus,  it  is  .said  that  an  angel  revealed  to  St. 
Benedict  that  his  spiritual  children,  if  faithful  to  the  religious 
life,  would  be  saved,  and  similar  revelations  are  recorded 
with  respect  to  other  Orders.    Therefore,  the  question 
whether  the  Carmelites  themselves  would  profit  by  the 
scapular  and  the  promises  attached  to  it,  has  really  never 
entered  into  the  discussions  which  from   time  to  time 
have  arisen  concerning  this  devotion.   The  crucial  point  is, 
what  assurance  does  it  give  to  outsiders  ?    The  Winchester 
miracle  spoken  of  in  a  previous  section  must  have  taught 
St.  Simon  Stock  that  the  promise  of  Our  Lady  was  absolute, 
not  only  in  favour  of  those  who  wear  the  habit  because 
they  belong  to  the  Carmelite  Order,  but  even  of  those  who 
wear  it  independently  of  religious  profession.    The  medium 
that  brings  it  within  the  reach  of  the  latter  is  tlie  Confraternity 
of  the  Scapular,  the  most  numerous  association  in  tlie  world 
after  the  Catholic  Church  itself.    Some  biographers  of  St. 
Simon  say  ^°  that  after  his  vision  he  erected  the  Confraternity 
wherever  he  went,  a  statement  which  is  somewhat  mislead- 
ing and  to  the  examination  of  which  we  must  now  turn. 
'  During  this  journey,'  says  Monbrun,  '  he  established  in 
various  places,  particularly  at  Bordeaux,  the  Confraternity 
of  the  Holy  Scapular.'    No  reference  is  given  for  this  state- 
ment but  it  has,  somewhat  unfortunately,   received  only 
lately  an  authority  it  hardly  deserves.    The  journey  alluded 
to  is  in  all  probability  a  series  of  official  visits  paid  to  several 
convents  then  existing,  and  also  to  some  towns  where  St. 
Simon  inaugurated  new  settlements.    It  is  not  possible  to 
fix  the  exact  itinerary,  but  it  appears  at  least  probable  that 
in  the  spring  of  1259     went  to  Sicily  for  the  general  chapter 


IS  See  among  others,  Alfred  Monbrun,  Vie  de  St.  Siiiion  Stock  (Clermont- 
Ferrand  and  Paris,  1869),  p.  145.  This  small  work,  which  has  had  the  honour 
of  being  translated  into  various  languages,  is  for  the  greatest  part  a  literal 
transcript  (without  acknowledgment)  from  a  far  more  serious  work  :  Recncil 
(Vinstrnctions  sur  la  devotion  an  Saint  Scapulaire,  par  le  R.  P.  Brocard  de 
Ste.  Therese,  Gand,  1845,  1846,  1866,  1875  (and  several  reprints).  Although 
our  own  in\'estigations  do  not  in  every  respect  coincide  with  the  results  of  this 
learned  and  pious  writer,  the  work  is  well  worth  studying  on  account  of  its 
accuracy. 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  SCAPULAR 


217 


to  be  held  on  Pentecost  (ist  June)  at  Messina.  On  the  way 
he  may  have  visited  Toulouse  and  Marseilles,  perhaps  also 
Bordeaux  where  he  may  have  laid  the  foundation  of  a 
convent."^  This,  however,  would  have  been,  according  to 
our  view,  previous  to  the  vision.  On  a  later  occasion  he 
probably  went  to  Belgium,  there  being  an  old  tradition  that 
the  convent  of  Bruges,  perhaps  also  those  at  Brussels,  Ypres, 
and  other  cities,  were  founded  by  him.  The  last  journey 
was  undertaken  in  1265,  a  general  chapter  having  been 
summoned  to  Toulouse  for  Pentecost  (23rd  May).  On  his 
way  thither  St.  Simon  was  seized  with  illness  at  Bordeaux, 
where  he  died  on  Sunday  after  the  Ascension,  May  i6th. 

On  the  occasion  of  one  of  his  visits  to  Toulouse  he  received 
and  clothed  a  recluse,  Blessed  Jane  of  Toulouse,  said  to  have 
belonged  to  one  of  the  most  noble  families  of  the  country, 
who  had  built  for  herself  a  small  anchorage  adjoining  the 
Carmelite  chapel.  During  her  life  and  also  after  her  death 
she  enjoyed  such  veneration  from  her  fellow-citizens  that, 
in  1 47 1,  Archbishop  Bernard  de  Rouergue  caused  her  body 
to  be  placed  in  a  magnificent  shrine,  and  the  general  chapter 
held  at  Naples  in  1510  decided  to  take  steps  towards  her 
canonization.  But  when  a  memoir  containing  the  story  of 
her  life  was  about  to  be  drawn  up,  it  was  found  that  a  large 
volume  on  the  subject  had  been  abstracted,  and  this  dampna- 
bile  furltini  frustrated  all  further  proceedings  until  recent 
times  when  the  matter  was  taken  up  by  the  Carmelite  nuns 
of  Toulouse,  a  certain  Abbe  Baurens  de  Molinier  being 
nominated  postulator  of  the  cause  of  beatification.  In  his 
petition  and  still  more  in  a  printed  work,  he  remarked^' 

This  chapter,  the  acts  of  which  are  unfortunately  lost,  is  mentioned  by 
Master  John  Trisaa,  who  in  1362  published  a  list  of  general  chapters  (MS. 
Harley,  iStg,  fol.  59a).  According  to  another  notice  preserved  by  Paleonydor, 
it  was  held  in  1367  by  Nicholas  Gallus,  the  successor  of  our  saint.  The  former 
version  appears  the  more  reliable  of  the  iwo,  because  Trissa  had  access  to  the 
chapter-book  ;  moreover,  there  was  no  reason  why  this  particular  chapter 
should  have  been  held  only  two  years  after  that  of  Toulouse,  custom  being  in 
favour  of  triennial  chapters.  Nicholas  Gallus  may,  of  course,  have  been 
present  without  presiding  over  it. 

Histoirc  de  la  Vie  et  du  Culfc  de  Ste.  Jeanne  dc  Toulouse,  Vierge,  Rili- 
geuse  Professe  CarmMitc  dc  Va  iicieitne  observance,  par  I'Abbe  Baurens  de 
Molinier.  Toumai,  1895.  To  call  her  '  professed  Carmelite  nun,'  and  that 
on  the  authority  of  Alegre  de  Casanate,  is  even  more  extravagant  than  to 
consider  her  a  Tertiary, 


21 8  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


that  owing  to  the  loss  of  authentic  documents,  he  had  been 
obhged  to  have  recourse  to  conjecture.  He  cannot  be  said 
to  have  been  particularly  felicitous  in  this  matter,  as  the 
picture  he  gives  of  Blessed  Jane  bears  no  resemblance  what- 
ever to  certain  genuine  records  still  extant  but  of  which  he 
had  no  knowledge.  The  confirmation  of  the  cultus  ah  ini- 
memorahili  took  place  on  the  29th  of  January,  1895,  and 
in  the  following  year  the  Sacred  Congregation  of  Rites 
approved  the  Breviary  lessons  for  the  feast  of  Blessed  Jane. 
In  these  there  occurs  the  following  passage  : — 

She  admitted  into  the  pious  Confraternity  of  the  Scapular, 
which  only  a  short  time  before  had  been  miraculously  instituted, 
several  thousand  persons  whom  she  arrayed  against  the  assaults 
of  the  heretics  and  Jews  like  a  well  ordained  army.  She  also 
spread  and  fostered  the  rule  of  life  of  Tertiaries  of  the  Carmelite 
Order  with  such  excellent  results  that  she  came  to  be  considered 
the  foundress  of  that  institution. 

It  is  regrettable  that  such  statements  should  be  invested 
with  the  authority  of  the  Sacred  Congregation  for  there  is 
really  no  foundation  for  them.  The  Third  Order  of  the 
Carmelites  was  only  instituted  in  1452,  and  the  Second 
Order,  for  women,  somewhat  later  still.  As  to  Blessed  Jane 
having  enrolled  several  thousands  in  the  Confraternity  of 
the  Scapular,  it  should  first  be  ascertained  whether  this 
confraternity  existed  in  her  time  at  all — and  the  answer  will 
be  either  in  the  aifirmative  or  in  the  negative  according  to 
the  meaning  one  likes  best  to  attach  to  the  term  confrater- 
nity. If  it  means  what  it  does  now,  a  religious  body  of 
persons  practising  certain  devotions  and  in  organic  depend- 
ence upon  the  Order  (however  loose  that  organisation  may 
be),  our  answer  will  be  an  emphatic  No.  There  is  no  evi- 
dence whatever  that  such  an  organisation  existed  previous  to 
the  sixteenth  century  ;  and  if,  as  is  sometimes  done,  the 
membership  of  Jane  of  Toulouse  is  put  forward  as  a  plea 
for  the  antiquit}''  of  the  Confraternity,  it  is  simply  a  case 
of  begging  the  question.  Although  the  various  lives  of 
vSt.  Simon  Stock  do  not  go  further  back  than  the  fifteenth 
century,  they  know  nothing  of  a  confraternity  supposed  to 
have  been  established  by  him. 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  SCAPULAR  219 


If,  however,  we  take  the  word  confraternity  in  the  sense 
that  the  saint  and  his  successors  after  him  admitted  certain 
persons  as  confratres  and  consorores  of  the  Order,  the  con- 
tention is  fully  borne  out  by  documentary  evidence.  What, 
then,  were  these  confratres  ?  They  were  persons  who,  in 
return  for  services  rendered  to  certain  convents,  shared  the 
spiritual  benefits  of  the  Order,  were  specially  prayed  for 
in  life  and  after  death,  participated  in  the  indulgences 
granted  to  the  Carmelites,  and,  in  a  word,  were  considered 
as  connected  with  them  by  the  bonds  of  spiritual  relation- 
ship. St.  Simon  Stock  and  his  successors  could  ill  afford 
to  do  without  such  confratres,  the  chief  among  them  being 
the  founders  of  the  various  convents.  These  were  not  only 
the  actual  founders,  who  by  their  liberality  enabled  the 
friars  to  acquire  the  necessary  ground  and  build  the  fabric 
of  church  and  convent,  but  also  their  successors. 

Of  some  convents,  like  Huln  near  Alnwick,^'*  we  still 
have  the  complete  list  of  '  founders  '  extending  over  several 
centuries  ;  of  others,  like  Norwich,"  we  have  the  proceedings 
settling  disputes  as  to  who  is  and  who  is  not,  entitled  to 
be  considered  as  founder.  Sometimes,  as  in  the  case  of 
Bristol,  royalty  steps  in  as  founder  at  a  time  when  the 
actual  foundation  has  long  been  completed.  In  such  cases 
the  convent  was  entitled  to  exhibit  the  royal  arms  over  the 
gateway  and  on  its  seal,  as  at  Hitchin.  There  are  other 
benefactors,  however,  whose  gifts  did  not  entitle  them  to 
be  counted  as  founders,  but  who  were  admitted  to  the 
Confraternity  by  a  solemn  ceremony,  and  to  whom  a  deed 
on  parchment,  signed  and  sealed  by  the  prior  and  the 
chapter,  was  handed  in  token  of  their  membership.  The 
rite  as  laid  down  by  the  Ceremonial  presents  considerable 
interest.  It  is  true  that  the  first  ceremonial  adopted,  it 
appears,  at  the  chapter  held  at  Messina  in  1259^^     '^^  longer 


"MS.  Bodley,  73,  fol.  55b. 

1*  Kirkpatrick,  History  of  the  Religious  Orders  and  Communities,  edition  of 
1845.  p.  161  sqq. 

*"'In  hoc  capitulo  fuerunt  plures  constitutiones  editae  specialiter  ad 
augmentandum  officium  divinum.'  The  Carmelites,  according  to  the  terms  of 
their  Rule,  followed  the  rite  of  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  of  which 
two  manuscripts  of  the  twelfth  century  are  still  preserved,  one  at  Barletta, 


220  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


in  existence.  A  new  ceremonial  introduced  in  1315,  and, 
notwithstanding  numerous  changes  and  additions,  remain- 
ing in  vigour  until  1584,  is  preserved  in  a  volume  of  Lambeth 
library  written  before  1324.^  Its  Rubric  XLVIII.,  'On  the 
Manner  of  receiving  Persons  to  the  (spiritual)  Benefits,' 
was  inserted  witliout  alteration  in  the  missals  of  155 1  and 
1574,  although  the  rest  of  the  ceremonial  underwent  radical 
changes  in  1539. 

If  anyone  desirous  of  participating  in  the  spiritual  benefits 
of  the  Order  be  of  such  merit  that  in  the  opinion  of  the  prior  a 
chapter  should  be  convened  for  performing  the  ceremony,  the 
prior  should  so  arrange  that  some  suitable  brother  or  brothers 
should  attend  to  him  outside  the  chapter-house,  and  that  the 
community  should  be  summoned  in  the  meantime.  As  soon  as 
the  chapter  has  assembled  one  of  the  brethren,  whoever  the  prior 
charges  to  do  so,  should  call  in  the  person  to  be  received.  Upon 
his  entrance  all  should  rise  up  and  remain  standing,  while  the 
prior  advances  a  little  way  towards  the  door  to  meet  him. 
Should  the  person  be  a  king,  a  bishop,  a  cardinal,  a  legate,  or 
anyone  of  similar  rank,  the  prior  should  offer  him,  provided  he 
be  agreeable  to  it,  his  own  seat  and  remain  the  while  close  at 
hand.  If,  however,  he  should  object  to  this  place  or  be  a  person 
of  less  exalted  dignity,  then  the  prior  should  occupy  it  himself 
with  the  visitor  by  his  side.  As  to  when  to  rise  and  when  not 
to  rise,  the  brethren  should  conform  to  the  prior's  decision, 
whose  business  it  is  to  judge  of  the  exigencies  of  the  case.  If 
the  person  be  capable  and  willing  to  make  his  own  request,  he 
should  do  so,  otherwise  it  is  for  the  prior  to  petition  the  chapter 
on  his  behalf ;  to  explain  what  obligations  the  brethren  have 
towards  the  petitioner,  to  show  as  conscientiously  as  possible 
his  dispositions  towards  the  Order,  the  benefits  he  has  conferred 
upon  it,  and  the  confidence  he  has  in  the  prayers  of  the  brethren, 
adding  that  these  reasons  merit  his  reception.  Then  turning  to 
the  applicant,  he  should  inform  him  that  both  the  chapter  and 
himself  willingly  grant  his  request.  After  which  all  should  rise 
from  their  seats  and  kneel  down  in  prayer  for  a  short  time. 
Finally,  the  prior  should  begin  the  antiphon  Suscepimus  Deus, 
followed  by  the  psalm  Magmis  Doviinus,  which  should  be  said 


edited  by  Giovene  (Naples,  1828]  ;  the  other,  in  a  magnificent  state  of  preserva- 
tion, at  the  Vatican  (Barberini,  32).  See  also  Ch.  Kohler  in  the  Revue  de 
I'Oritnt  Latin,  igoo-1901, 

21  MS.  Lambeth,  193,  on  which  see  a  series  of  articles  by  the  present 
writer  in  the  Chroniques  du  Cannel,  1903-1904. 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  SCAPULAR 


221 


alternately  by  the  brethren,  with  Gloria  Patri,  etc.  The  antiphon 
having  been  repeated,  there  follow  Kyrie  Eleison,  etc. 

Pater  noster.    Et  ne  nos. 
V .  Salvum  fac  servum. 
V.  Mitte  ei  Domine. 
V.  Nihil  proficiat. 

V.  Domine  exaudi.    Dominus  vobiscum.      ■  ■ 

Oremus. 

Suscipiat  te  Christus  in  numero  fidelium  suorum  et  nos  licet 
indigni  te  suscipimus  in  orationibus  nostris  et  cedat  tibi  Deus 
per  Unigenitum  suum  mediatorem  Dei  et  hominum  tempus  bene 
Vivendi,  locum  bene  agendi,  instantiam  bene  perseverandi,  et  ad 
aeternae  vitae  hereditatem  feliciter  perveniendi,  et  sicut  nos  hodie 
fraterna  charitas  spiritualiter  jungit  in  terris  ita  divina  pietas  quae 
dilectionis  est  auctrix  et  amatrix  nos  cum  fidelibus  suis  conjun- 
gere  dignetur  in  coelis,  praestante  Domino  nostro  Jesu  Christo 
qui  cum  Patre,  etc. 

The  choir  having  answered  '  Amen,'  the  prior  says  to  the 
person  in  question  :  '  By  the  power  vested  in  me  I  receive  you 
to  the  participation  in  all  the  Masses,  prayers,  fasting,  absti- 
nence, watching,  labours,  and  other  good  works,  which  by  the 
grace  of  God  are  done  by  the  brethren  of  this  convent.  In  the 
name  of  the  Father,'  etc.  The  choir  respond  :  '  Amen.'  The 
person  having  been  sprinkled  with  holy  water,  kisses  the  book 
in  which  the  prayer  Suscipiat  is  written,  and  afterwards  em- 
braces the  prior.  In  the  case  of  a  lady,  the  former  ceremonj^ 
only  takes  place.  Should,  however,  the  person  thus  received 
be  an  emperor,  king,  cardinal,  bishop,  or  of  a  similarly  exalted 
rank,  special  Masses  and  prayers  may  be  promised  him  by  the 
prior  who  shall  further  oblige  the  brethren  to  the  faithful  per- 
formance of  the  same.  He  may  also,  it  he  thinks  fit,  thank  the 
person  (according  to  his  rank)  for  his  kindness  towards  the 
brethren,  and  recommend  himself  and  the  Order  to  him,  and  if 
he  be  a  spiritual  person  (an  ecclesiastic),  ask  his  prayers  on 
behalf  of  the  brethren  and  himself. 

If,  having  regard  to  the  person's  rank  there  be  in  the  judg- 
ment of  the  prior  no  need  of  calling  the  whole  chapter,  three 
or  four  of  the  more  prominent  brethren  should  be  assembled 
for  the  ceremony  which  may  take  place  either  in  the  chapter- 
house or  in  the  church  before  one  of  the  altars.  When  the 
petition  has  been  presented  the  prior,  turning  to  the  applicant, 
should  say  that  on  account  of  his  devotion  towards  the  Order, 
and  the  confidence  he  places  in  the  prayers  of  the  brethren,  they 
willingly  accept  his  application.  Then  the  person  kneeling  down, 
the  prior  and  the  brethren  say  the  psalm  Magnus  Dominus,  and 
the  rest  as  above.    And,  if  several  persons  are  received  together. 


322  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


the  ceremony  is  the  same  only  that  the  singular  number  should 
be  changed  into  the  plural  both  in  the  verses  and  in  the  prayer. 
No  lady  should  be  received  in  this  manner  unless  she  be  of  such 
distinction  and  so  well  connected  that  the  favour  could  not  be 
denied  her  without  detriment  to  the  Order.  The  ceremony 
should  in  such  a  case  take  place  in  presence  of  her  suite  with  due 
solemnity,  and  the  prior  should  be  careful  to  substitute  in  the 
formula  the  feminine  gender  for  the  masculine.  If  he  who  con- 
ducts the  ceremony  be  the  General  of  the  Order  or  a  Provincial, 
the  same  rite  must  be  observed  with  this  exception,  that  the 
General  promises  a  share  in  the  good  works  of  the  whole  Order 
and  the  Provincial  in  those  of  the  province  only. 

The  Constitutions  of  1324,  as  well  as  those  of  1462, 
mention  among  the  prerogatives  of  the  General  and  Pro- 
vincials the  power  of  disposing  of  the  spiritual  goods  of  the 
Order  or  the  province  in  the  aforesaid  manner. 

We  have  already  pointed  out  that  the  admission  to  the 
fraternity  of  the  Order  was  frequently  confirmed  by  deeds, 
specimens  of  which  are  preserved  in  various  archives  and 
collections.  Thus,  in  one  belonging  to  the  British  Museum,'^^ 
Brother  William,  Prior  of  Oxford,  admits  John  Lincoln  and 
Agnes  his  wife  to  the  spiritual  brotherhood  in  consideration 
of  their  devotion  to  the  Order.  In  1516  William  Brevie  and 
John  Byrd,  professors  of  divinit}/  and  Visitors-General  of 
the  English  province,  caused  a  blank  form  of  the  letter  of 
Fraternity  to  be  printed,  a  copy  of  which  is  preserved  at 
Oxford.*'  It  is  adorned  with  two  curious  woodcuts,  one 
representmg  the  Annunciation,  the  other  two  Carmelite 
friars  engaged  in  prayer  with  a  fish  and  a  bird  between 
them,  probably  the  emblems  of  St.  Elias  (the  raven)  and  St. 
Simon  Stock  (a  dead  fish,  in  allusion  to  a  miracle  related  in 
the  legend  lor  his  feast).  The  text  is  almost  identical  with 
that  of  written  deeds  of  a  much  earlier  date,  setting  forth 
that  in  respect  of  the  singular  kindness  shown  by  the  bearers 
towards  the  Order  they  have  been  admitted  to  the  partici- 
pation of  the  spiritual  treasures  of  the  Order,  and  that  as 
soon  as  notice  of  their  demise  shall  have  been  read  in  a 
chapter-house  of  the  province  they  will  enjoy  the  same 


22  Add.  Charter  5.837,  dated  1416. 
•2-'  Rawlinson,  D.  3661 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  SCAPULAR 


223 


suffrages  as  are  wont  to  be  offered  for  the  brethren  them- 
selves. Then  follows  a  list  of  '  indulgences  and  popular 
remissions '  granted  to  the  Carmelite  Order  by  various 
Popes  from  Adrian  II.  to  the  '  modern  Pontiff '  Leo  X., 
some  of  which  may  be  gained  in  consideration  of  pecuniary 
aid  tendered  towards  the  sustenance  of  the  brothers  and 
the  repair  and  maintenance  of  the  convents.  Finally,  a 
concession  is  mentioned  empowering  the  confessors  of  the 
Order,  in  dealing  with  conjratrcs  and  consorores,  to  use  the 
faculties  enjoyed  by  Minor  penitentiaries  at  the  Roman 
Court. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  neither  the  ceremony  of  creating 
confratres  described  in  the  Ordinale  of  i3i5,nor  the  letters 
of  Fraternity  contain  a  word  about  the  scapular  or  the  habit. 
They  simply  admit  certain  persons,  chiefly  benefactors,  to 
a  participation  in  the  spiritual  treasures  of  the  Order.  But 
a  comparison  of  the  rite  set  forth  above  with  that  contained 
in  the  Roman  Ritual  for  enrolment  in  the  Scapular,  shows 
the  relationship  of  the  one  to  the  other.  For  the  part 
relating  to  the  Scapular  is  simply  inserted  in  the  form  of 
admission  to  the  Confraternity.  The  verses  Adjuiorium, 
etc.,  with  the  following  prayer  are  taken  from  the  rite  of 
profession  introduced  by  Blessed  John  Soreth,  and  still  in 
use  in  the  Order,  while  the  prayer  Suppiiciicr  te,  the  words 
Accipe,  etc.,  with  which  the  scapular  is  given  to  the 
candidate  and  the  last  blessing  {Bencdicat  te),  are  of 
com])aratively  modern  origin.  We  are  not  able  to  fix 
the  date  of  their  introduction,  but  it  is  certain  that 
they  cannot  be  traced  beyond  15S4  when  the  Carmelite 
liturgy  was  revised,  so  that  they  must  have  come  into 
use  either  during  the  last  part  of  the  sixteenth  century  or 
the  early  part  of  the  seventeenth  century.  As  we  shall 
learn  from  the  following  section,  the  wearing  of  the  scapular 
by  some  of  the  faithful  is  attested  to  by  a  document  dating 
from  the  first  half  of  the  fifteenth  century,  and  most  prob- 
ably by  others  of  the  second  half  of  the  fourteenth,  so  that 
the  conclusion  forces  itself  upon  us  that  in  these  early  times 
the  ceremony  of  admitting  confratres  to  the  spiritual  benefits 


224  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


of  the  Order  was  held  sufficient,  no  special  rite  being  used 
for  the  actual  investment.'''' 

THE  CONFRATRES 

To  few  writers  are  we  indebted  for  more  valuable  infor- 
mation upon  the  history  of  the  Order  than  to  John  Bale, 
who  during  the  long  years  he  belonged  to  it,  missed  no 
opportunity  of  collecting  notes  on  the  literary  activity  of 
his  confreres,  for  which  purpose  he  carefully  examined 
numerous  monastic  libraries  at  home  and  abroad.  Even 
after  his  apostacy  his  taste  in  this  respect  remained  un- 
changed, with  the  result  that  his  various  note-books,  fre- 
quently quoted  in  these  pages,  form  an  inexhaustible  mine 
of  information  by  the  aid  of  which  many  a  mistaken  view 
of  historians  of  the  calibre  of  Lezana  may  be  corrected. 
Very  few  of  the  works  known  to  Bale  are  now  in  existence. 
Thousands  of  them  have  been  swept  away  by  the  Reforma- 
tion and  revolutions  which  dealt  as  mercilessly  with  books 
as  with  their  authors  and  o-v\mers.  Under  these  circum- 
stances we  can  only  regret  the  want  of  system  and  true 
insight  into  the  value  of  various  kinds  of  literature  which 
are  but  too  noticeable  in  Bale's  transcripts.  He  must  have 
spent  days  and  even  weeks  in  copying  what  after  all  one 
can  only  consider  as  trifles,  such  as  endless  verses  of  the 
Renaissance  period,  whereas  he  often  contented  himself 
with  the  barest  notices  on  historical  sources  of  the  highest 
import.  It  is  also  exasperating  that  he  frequently  gives 
long  quotations  without  so  much  a?  hinting  at  their  sources, 
whilst  at  other  times  he  furnishes  indications  which  would 
indeed  do  credit  to  a  modern  scholar. 

In  several  parts  of  his  books  he  gives  lists  of  certain 
noblemen  who  wore  the  habit  of  the  Order.  From  his  own 
words  we  know  that  he  found  such  a  list  with  many  details 
in  the  writings  of  Friar  Nicholaus  Cantilupe,  but  there  is 


2*  A  new  formulary  having  been  introduced,  in  1888,  by  the  Sacred  Con- 
gregation of  Rites,  at  the  request  of  missionaries,  chiefly  Redemptorists,  our 
former  rite  has  been  set  aside,  after  having  been  in  force  six  hundred  years. 
It  would  be  affectation  on  our  part  to  say  that  we  were  quite  indifferent  about 
this  change. 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  SCAPULAR 


225 


every  reason  to  believe  that  similar  lists  were  derived  from 
other  sources,  and  in  fact  it  is  obvious  that  Cantilupe 
himself  had  older  writings  before  him.  It  may  be  a  matter 
of  pure  speculation  whether  one  of  these  lists  was  the  work 
of  William  de  Coventry  (1348),  but  at  all  events  there  are 
enough  indications  to  entitle  us  to  seek  the  prototype  of 
CantUupe's  list  in  the  first  half  of  the  fourteenth  century. 

Besides  the  names  contained  in  this  list  there  are  others 
of  confratres  and  consorores  without  any  statement  about 
the  habit  or  scapular.    Most  of  them  belong  to  recluses 
attached  to  the  Order  who  very  probably  wore  the  full 
religious  dress,  but  who  for  this  very  reason  must  not  be 
taken  as  fair  examples  of  people  invested  with  the  scapular. 
Among  them  is  Gilbert  Hamarensis,  suffragan  of  Norwich 
and  titular  bishop  of  some  Scandinavian  see,  who  in  1273 
and  1276  granted  certain  indulgences  to  the  Carmelite 
church  at  Norwich,  where  he  was  also  buried  30th  October 
1287.^    Although  Bale  does  not  mention  Edward  I.  in  this 
connection,  he  certainly  must  have  enjoyed  the  Fraternity 
of  the  Order  for  he  was  one  of  its  principal  benefactors, 
having  contributed  largely  to  the  foundation  of  quite  a 
number  of  convents,  among  others  those  of  Yarmouth, 
Nottingham,  and  Chester.    His  motive  for  doing  so  was 
his  deliverance  from  a  grave  peril  in  the  Holy  Land.^^ 

Nicholaus  Cantilupe,  to  whom  the  following  list  is  ascribed, 
was  by  birth  a  Welshman,  a  relative  of  St.  Thomas  of  Here- 
ford. He  took  the  habit  at  Bristol  and  in  due  time  pro- 
ceeded to  Cambridge  for  his  studies,  distinguishing  himself 
in  philosophy,  theology,  and  history.  Hand  in  hand  with 
his  learning  went  his  personal  qualities — kindness,  affability, 
and  saintliness — on  account  of  which  he  was  successively 
elected  prior  at  Cambridge,  Bristol,  Gloucester,  and  North- 
ampton, where  he  died  27th  September,  1441.  His  virtues 
have  been  celebrated  by  several  poets  of  the  Order. 
WTiile  at  Cambridge  he  wrote  a  history  of  the  University 
which  exists  in  manuscript  and  has  been  printed  by  Hearne. 


^5  Bodley,  73,  fol.  51b. ;  Selden,  41,  supra.    See  also  the  Harley  MSS, 
Rishanger,  Rolls'  Series,  69. 

VOL.  XV.  P 


226  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


A  lengthy  writing  in  praise  of  the  Carmehte  Order  has  been 
preserved  by  Bale,^'  but  it  hardly  contributes  much  to  our 
knowledge. 

St.  Louis  IX.,  King  of  France.  After  shipwreck  off 
Cape  Carmel  he  ascended  the  holy  mountain  where  he 
found  some  fellow-countrymen  of  his,  six  of  whom  he  took 
with  him  to  France  and  gave  them  a  house  in  Paris.  Clam 
dePulit  hoc  signnm. 

Thibaut,  Count  of  Champagne,  son-in-law  of  St.  Louis, 
whom  he  accompanied  on  his  last  crusade.  On  his  return 
he  was  taken  ill  whilst  sailing  from  Africa  to  Sicily.  He 
died  and  was  buried  in  the  Carmelite  convent  at  Trapani, 
on  5th  December,  1270. 

Frederick,  King  of  Sicily.  Having  been  miraculously 
cured  of  a  malignant  fever  through  the  intercession  of  St. 
Albert,  he  made  a  vow  to  wear  the  habit  of  the  Order  for 
three  years,  but  on  his  accession  obtained  a  dispensation. 
He  bestowed  many  benefits  upon  the  Order,  and  was  finally 
buried  in  the  habit  a.d.  1308  (1337  ?). 

'  Saint '  Edward  IL  of  England.  In  thanksgiving  for  his 
miraculous  escape  at  the  battle  of  Bannockburn  (24th  June, 
1314),  he  gave  the  Carmelites  the  royal  manor  at  Oxford. 
Friar  Robert  Baston,  prior  of  Scarborough,  had  accom- 
panied him  on  the  ill-fated  expedition  in  order  to  put  the 
king's  expected  victory  in  verse,  but  being  taken  prisoner 
by  the  Scots  he  was  forced  to  sing  the  triumphs  of  Robert  1 
Bruce.  One  of  Edward's  confessors  was  Friar  Richard  I 
Bliton,  who  even  resigned  his  dignity  as  Provincial  in  order 
to  devote  his  time  entirely  to  the  king.  Few  convents  of 
the  Order  did  not  profit  by  the  king's  generosity.  He  is 
said  to  have  worn  the  scapular  secretly. 

Henry,  brother  of  '  Saint '  Thomas  of  Lancaster,  is 
likewise  numbered  among  those  who  wore  it  during  life  | 
and  at  death.  Friar  William  Reynham  of  Lynn  was  one 
of  his  confessors  and  accompanied  him  abroad.  The  Duke 
of  Lancaster  was  held  in  high  repute  on  account  of  the 
saintliness  of  his  life,  and  was  credited  with  many  miracles. 


27  Harley,  1819,  fol.  153b. 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  SCAPULAR 


227 


'■  •'■  John  of  Gaunt  was  one  of  the  greatest  protectors  the 
Order  has  ever  had,  and  both  in  England  and  abroad  he 
and  his  family  had  Carmelites  for  confessors  who  in  all 
probability  filled  also  the  posts  of  almoners  and  secretaries. 
Although  in  one  case  he  acted  with  uncalled  for  brutality 
towards  a  member  of  the  Order,  he  did  much  for  the  im- 
provement of  some  of  the  convents  and  took  the  lion's 
share  in  the  foundation  of  Doncaster.  In  a  letter  to  Urban 
VI.  on  behalf  of  the  Order  (of  which  more  anon),  he  calls 
himself,  according  to  Bale,  jrater  ordinis,  though  the  copy 
before  us  gives  his  words  as  filius  conjcssionis  ejusdem 
ordinis.^  Needless  to  say  how  proud  the  Carmelites  were 
of  their  mighty  protector,  though  they  cannot  have  been 
quite  blind  to  his  serious  shortcomings. 

Henry  Percy,  first  Earl  of  Northumberland,  '  and  many 
other  noblemen,  both  English  and  French,  wore  the  scapular 
and  desired  to  be  buried  with  it.' 

To  these  must  be  added  Popes  Gregory  X.  and  Benedict 
XII.  who,  as  Cantilupe  says,  wore  it  previous  to  their 
election  ;  and  finally,  Dom  Pedro,  a  Portuguese  count. 
'  Nec  aberant  qui  hoc  gaudentes  indusio  variis  fuere  sanati 
languoribus.' 

If,  as  we  think,  this  list  was  compiled  in  the  fourteenth 
century,  it  serves  as  an  illustration  to  vSwanyngton's  words  : 
'  When  these  facts  became  known  in  England  and  abroad, 
numerous  grandees  desired  to  be  affiliated  to  the  Order  so 
that  they  might  participate  in  its  blessings  and  die  in  the 
holy  habit.' 

In  this  and  similar  enumerations  it  is  frequently  stated 
that  the  scapular  was  worn  secretly.  Purposeless  as  such 
a  notice  may  seem  at  first  sight,  it  appears  to  us  to  contain 
a  valuable  hint.  Of  course  the  scapular,  even  if  much 
larger  than  those  used  nowadays,  would  be  practically  a 
secret  garment.    But,  considering  what  we  already  know 


Walsingham,  Historia  (Rolls'  Series),  ii.  114. 
Selden,  41,  supra;  Bodley,  73,  fol.  185a. 
«°Harley,  3838,  chap,  xix.,  where  Cantilupe  is  specially  quoted.  The 
same  names,  with  more  or  less  extensive  explanations,  recur  trequently  in  the 
various  note-books,  sometimes  singly,  at  other  times  in  groups. 


228  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


about  the  manner  in  which  it  came  to  be  regarded  as  the 
most  essential  part  of  the  rehgious  habit,  and  the  one  to 
which  the  promise  of  Our  Lady  is  cliiefly  if  not  exclusively 
attached,  it  seems  to  us  that  the  writer  who  first  drew  up 
this  catalogue  (in  saying  that  the  habit  was  worn  secretly) 
may  have  intended  to  convey  to  his  readers  that  only  one 
part  of  it,  the  one  that  would  adapt  itself  most  easily  to 
court  dress  as  well  as  the  coat  of  mail,  namely  the  scapular, 
was  used  ;  whence  later  writers,  already  accustomed  to  the 
prerogative  of  the  scapular,  concluded  that  there  was  some 
secrecy  about  it.  If  this  is  not  the  right  interpretation  we 
must  own  that  we  fail  to  see  the  point  of  this  obscure  remark. 
But  perhaps  the  case  of  Frederick,  King  of  Sicily,  may  help 
us  to  understand  still  better  by  what  processes  the  scapular 
was  substituted  for  the  complete  habit. 

We  ought  also  to  add  a  word  about  the  comparative 
scarcity  of  miracles  wrought  on  account  of  the  scapular. 
Modern  books  on  this  devotion  abound  in  records  of  miracles, 
many  of  which  have  been  canonically  investigated.  But, 
apart  from  the  Winchester  miracle  and  another  reported  by 
Leersius  (which  is  hardly  to  the  point),  we  have  only  the 
general  remark  that  many  who  wore  the  scapular  were 
cured  through  it  of  various  diseases.  An  appeal  to  the 
unknown  is,  as  a  rule,  bad  logic,  but  in  this  case  there  may 
be  some  justification  for  it,  because  it  seems  inconceivable 
that  Sibert  de  Beka  in  his  Floras  historiarum,  William  de 
Coventry  in  his  Scutum  Carmelitariim,  and  Nicholaus  de 
Cantilupe  in  the  work  whence  the  list  of  persons  wearing 
the  scapular  is  derived,  should  have  treated  of  the  scapular 
devotion  without  illustrating  their  narratives  by  accounts 
of  such  miraculous  events.  Unfortunately  these  books  are 
lost.  Bale  was  so  unsystematic  in  his  transcripts  that  his 
silence  counts  for  nothing.  We  certainly  should  know  very 
little  of  the  great  devotion  of  the  inhabitants  of  Toulouse 
to  the  miraculous  statue  of  Our  Lady  which  had  been 
brought  from  Mount  Carmel,  had  not  Bale  taken  the  trouble 
of  cop3ang  some  sixteen  closely  written  pages  containing, 
besides  an  account  of  the  shrine,  an  incredible  number  of 
miracles,  among  them  the  resuscitation  of  nearly  twenty 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  SCAPULAR 


229 


persons,  all  of  which  occurred  within  one  year."  In  taking 
notes  he  acted  as  a  book-worm  without  any  set  purpose, 
not  like  an  historian  who  collects  materials  according  to  a 
pre-arranged  plan. 

OUR  LADY  OF  MOUNT  CARMEL 

The  principal  feast  of  the  Carmelite  Order  is  the  Solemn 
Commemoration  of  Our  Lady,  popularly  known  as  the 
Scapular  feast,  which  is  sometimes  held  on  the  Sunday 
following  the  15th  of  July,  but  the  real  celebration  of  which 
is  the  1 6th,  the  day  '  after  the  feast  of  the  Division  of  the 
Apostles,'  on  which  day  St.  Simon's  vision  occurred.  The 
older  historians  of  the  Order,  like  Lezana,  were  under  the 
impression  that  it  was  introduced  in  1226  in  commemoration 
of,  and  thanksgiving  for,  the  confirmation  of  the  Rule  under 
Pope  Honorius  III.,  because  the  lessons  for  matins  gave  a 
detailed  account  of  the  circumstances  connected  with  this 
event.  It  appears  that  the  Pope  was  willing  to  confirm  the 
said  Rule  but  that  two  officials  of  the  Roman  Court,  whom 
some  writers  even  call  cardinals,  offered  stubborn  resistance 
until  Our  Lady  appeared  to  Honorius  bidding  him  to  protect 
the  Order  specially  dedicated  to  her,  and  warning  him  that 
the  anger  of  God  had  been  provoked  by  those  who  put  an 
obstacle  to  her  will.  Accordingly  the  two  officials  were 
struck  with  sudden  death,  and  it  was  rumoured  abroad  that 
one  of  them  made  a  bad  death,  dispari  exitu  sed  discessii 
pari.  The  fact  that  in  this  legend  were  quoted  the  words 
of  the  second  Council  of  Lyons  (1274),  whereby  the  Order 
was  finally  confirmed,  should  have  warned  Lezana  that  it 
must  be  of  considerably  later  origin  ;  and  in  fact  the  feast 
was  as  yet  unknown  when  the  Ordinale  of  1315  was  drawn 
up,  neither  does  it  appear  in  the  Calendar  of  1340.^^  It 
occurs  for  the  first  time  in  the  calendar  prefixed  to  a  copy 
of  Friar  Nicholaus  de  Lynn's  astronomical  tables,"'  which 

•'1  Harley,  i8ig,  fol.  Pgb-gya. 

'  Obiiuairc  du  Couvent  des  Carmes  a  Bruges,'  edited  by  W.  H.  James 
Weale  in  the  AnnaUs  de  la  Socictc.  d'EniuhUioti  .  .  .  de  la  Flaiidre.  igoo. 

^•^  MS.  Arundel,  347,  It  does  not,  however,  appear  in  other  copies  (Add.; 
i5,2og,  and  Arundel,  207).  Nicholaus  de  Lynn  lived  and  died  at  Norwich, 
Chaucer  mentions  him  in  the  Astrolabe,  Prologue  HL 


230  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


must  have  been  written  about  1387.  It  is  there  called 
Comniemoratio  solemnis  S.  Mariae.  After  that  date  it 
appears  in  all  liturgical  books  of  the  Order  with  the  exception 
of  a  book  of  Hours  (Lyons,  1516). 

It  is  not  difficult  to  discover  the  occasion  which  led  to 
the  introduction  of  this  feast. 

A  violent  discussion  having  arisen  at  Cambridge  between 
Friar  John  Stokes,  Dominican,  and  Friar  John  Homeby, 
Carmelite,  the  former  contending  that  the  Carmelites  had 
been  instituted  in  honour  of  that  great  penitent,  St.  Mary 
of  Egypt,  and  the  latter  maintaining  that  they  owed  their 
title  and  glory  to  the  Blessed  Virgin,  a  public  disputation 
was  held  in  the  presence  of  the  heads  of  the  University  in  a 
chapel  of  the  Carmelite  church,  behind  the  northern  gate 
of  the  church.  We  doubt  whether  a  body  of  learned  men 
at  the  present  time  would  have  had  the  patience  to  listen 
to  the  long  speech  delivered  on  this  occasion  by  Horneby, 
for  it  occupied  no  less  than  thirty-five  pages  in  double 
columns,'"  and  Stokes'  response  cannot  have  been  much 
shorter.  The  arguments,  too,  would  scarcely  be  deemed 
satisfactory  nowadays  for  they  are  chiefly  derived  from 
Canon  law  and  hardly  touch  upon  the  historical  problem  ; 
but  the  University  must  have  been  fully  convinced,  for  it 
issued  two  decrees  whereby  the  victory  is  attributed  to 
Horneby  without  the  slightest  qualification  and  all  members 
are  strictly  prohibited  ever  to  call  these  matters  into  ques- 
tion. The  decrees  bear  the  date  of  the  disputation,  23rd 
February,  i374- 

But  the  matter  did  not  stop  here,  for  the  strife  allayed 
at  Cambridge  broke  out  with  renewed  force  at  Chester. 

Some  invidious  persons  boldly  declared  that  the  Carmelites 
had  as  much  right  as,  but  not  more  than,  other  religious  to  consider 
themselves  the  chosen  servants  of  Our  Lady.  Strange  to  say, 
most  of  those  who  thus  spoke  died  a  sudden  death,  for  which 


John  Horneby  was  admitted  for  preaching  and  confessions  in  the 
Diocese  of  Ely  in  1337.  The  date  of  his  death,  which  took  place  at 
St.  Botolph's,  is  not  on  record.  His  disputation  is  preserved  in  MS.  Bodley, 
86,  fol.  176-21 1.  The  two  decrees  are  printed  in  Daniel,  Speculum  Carmcl. 
i.  120.  On  John  Stokes  see  Quetif  and  Echard,  i.  674.  Hii,  Dctcrminationum 
volumcii  containing  his  side  of  the  dispute,  seems  to  be  lost. 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  SCAPULAR  23! 


reason  the  Lord  Abbot,  Thomas  (de  Newport),  caused  pubHc 
processions  to  be  held  at  St.  Werburgh's,  and  when  the  CarmeHtes 
passed  in  front  of  the  shrine  of  the  holy  hermit,  Goddesstald,  in 
the  eastern  part  of  the  choir,  lo  !  a  miraculous  image  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin,  which  was  placed  there  and  greatly  venerated  by 
the  faithful,  was  seen  to  point  at  them  with  the  finger,  saying  in 
an  audible  voice,  as  if  addressing  each  one  of  the  brethren  in 
particular  :  '  Behold  my  brethren,  behold  my  brethren,  behold 
my  beloved  brethren,  the  chosen  ones !  '^^ 

Lest  such  attacks  should  be  renewed  to  the  detriment 
of  religion  in  general  and  the  Carmelites  in  particular,  John 
of  Gaunt  addressed  a  letter  to  the  Pope  in  which  he  rendered 
an  account  of  what  had  happened  and  requested  His 
Holiness  to  graciously  declare  the  alleged  articles  to  be 
utterly  untrue  and  forbid  them  to  be  held  and  propounded 
tmder  severe  penalties  ;  and  in  order  the  more  to  increase 
the  devotion  of  the  people  towards  the  Order  of  Our  Lady 
of  Mount  Carmel,  to  grant  indulgences  to  those  who  would 
address  the  members  of  the  said  Order  under  the  title  of 
the  Mother  of  God  and  oppose  themselves  to  all  who  dared 
to  contravene  any  of  His  Holiness'  injunctions  on  this 
matter.  This  letter,  John  of  Gaunt  says,  had  been  oc- 
casioned by  the  singular  affection  he  had  always  felt  and 
still  feels  towards  the  said  Order,  of  which  he  is  filius 
confessionis!^  Accordingly,  Urban  VL  granted  an  indul- 
gence of  three  years  and  as  many  quarantines  to  those  who 
should  call  the  Carmelites  the  brethren  (or  friars)  of  the 
most  Glorious  Mother  of  God  (26th  April,  1379). 

A  short  time  before  the  Duke  of  Lancaster  wrote  to 
the  Pope,  the  General  of  the  Order,  Bernard  Olerius,  came 
to  England  for  the  purpose  of  a  visitation  of  the  province. 
At  a  chapter  held  at  Doncaster  on  the  feast  of  the  Assump- 
tion, 1376,  he  prescribed  that  in  future  this  feast  should  be 
styled  throughout  the  Order  Festum  confratrum  Ordinis 
beaiae  Mariae  genitricis  Dei  de  Monte  Carmelo.^''    For  some 

"6  Thomas  Scrope  (Bradley),  Carmelite  recluse  of  Norwich,  afterwards 
titular  Bishop  of  Dromore,  C/()-o«/toK.  o/iMrf  Daniel,  loc.  c/«.  i.,179.  Thegestaof 
Chester  he  refers  to  are  probably  the  Annalcs  Ccstrciises  (Cotton,  Otho,  B.  3), 
which  perished  in  the  fire  at  the  Cottonian  Library. 

"5  Bodley,  73,  fol.  185a;  Bullarium  Cann.,  i.  141, 

Bodley,  73,  fol.  138,  from  a  note  by  Friar  Robert  Ormeskirk,  who  was 
Procurator  of  the  Order  at  Windsor,  i.c„  agent  at  court,  residing  at  0.\ford. 


232  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


reason  or  other  this  injunction  was  not  comphed  with,  but 
instead  of  it  the  feast  of  the  i6th  of  July  was  introduced. 

As  has  already  been  stated,  it  appears  for  the  first  time 
in  a  calendar  of  circa  1387.  For  a  long  time  it  had  no 
special  liturgy,  both  the  office  and  the  Mass  being  taken 
from  the  common  with  the  exception  of  the  prayer,  which 
began  Deus  qui  excellentissiniae  Virginis  et  Matris  tuae 
Mariae  titulo  hmnilem  ordinem  et  electum  singularitcr  deco- 
rasti  ct  fro  defensione  ejusdem  muUa  miracula  suscitasH, 
concede,  etc.,  (the  allusion  to  the  Chester  miracle  is  obvious). 
Thus  the  Oxford  Breviary  of  1399,  the  Kilcormic  Missal 
of  1458,^"  the  first  printed  Breviary  (Brussels,  1480)  where 
the  prayer  is  accidentally  omitted,^"  the  Breviaries  of  1490, 
1495,  1504,  etc.,  the  Missals  of  1551  and  1574,  etc.  In 
England,  however,  we  find  also  some  special  offtces.  A 
fragment  of  '  proper '  offices  written  in  1478  prescribes  for 
Vespers  the  antiphons  Haec  est  regina,  etc.,  from  the  feast 
of  the  Annunciation  with  the  ordinary  psalms  of  Our  Lady, 
Laudate  fueri  and  four  other  psalms  beginning  with  Lauda 
or  Laudate,  chapter  Beata  es  Maria,  great  response  Sictit 
cedrus,  hymn  Ave  Maris  stella,  verse  Diffusa  est,  antiphon 
for  Magnificat  Ave  regina  coelorum.  Eight  lessons  for  Matins 
contain,  besides  the  story  about  the  confirmation  of  the 
Rule  under  Honorius  already  alluded  to,  an  eloquent  en- 
comium of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  the  homily  is  on  the  Gospel 
Loquente  Jesii,  the  Mass  is  Salve  sancta  parens,  with  special 
prayers. 

This  office  gave  rise  to  another  which,  according  to  the 
taste  of  the  times,  was  entirely  in  verse.  We  owe  its  pre- 
servation to  the  indefatigable  pen  of  Bale,"  who,  in  one  of 
his  note-books,^'  attributes  it,  as  well  as  some  other  Carmelite 
offices,  to  himself ;  but  this  can  only  refer  to  the  particular 


»8  MS.  University  Coll.,  Oxford,  9, 

^3  MS.  Trinity  Coll.,  Dublin,  B.  3  i.  It  has-been  (most  unsatisfactorily) 
edited  by  Rev.  Hugh  Jackson  Lawlor,  D.D.,  in  Ti'ansactions  of  the  Rvyal  Irish 
Academy,  Vol,  xxxi.,  Part  X.    Dublin,  1900. 

40  The  feast  is  marked  in  the  calendar,  but  passed  over  in  the  body  of  the 
Breviary. 

*i  MS.  Add.,  12,195. 

*2  MS.  Cambridge,  Ff.  vi.  28 

*3  Selden,  41,  supra. 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  SCAPULAR 


233 


copy,  for  several  of  the  pieces  there  contained  are  certainly 
not  his  work.  In  fact  there  is  every  reason  to  think  that 
the  entire  collection  is  due  to  George  Riplay,  *  and  Friar 
Robert  Bale.  Strange  to  say,  neither  in  the  lessons,  which 
are  a  poetical  paraphrase  of  those  in  Add.  12,195,  nor  in  the 
remaining  portion  of  this  office,  is  there  a  direct  allusion  to 
the  scapular  and  the  promises  attached  thereto.  There 
are,  however,  several  passages  which  seem  to  refer  to  it  in 
more  or  less  veiled  language.  Thus  in  the  response  after 
the  third  lesson  : — • 

R.  Tu  amoenus  paradisus  soli  deo  cognitus 

Nitens,  candens  et  invisus  castitate  praeditus, 
Nobis  confer  pietatem  per  immensam  caritatem. 

V.  Deo  tu  propinquior  sanctisque  celerior 

Mater  ad  dandum  munera  vitae  prece  largissima.  Nobis. 

Again,  at  the  end  of  the  ninth  lesson  : — 

Sic  ergo  per  te  sanctarum  sanctissima  succidantur  demerita 
damnationis  aeternae,  et  in  profectum  perducantur  opera  salutis 
aeternae.    Ad  honorem  Filii  tui,  etc. 

Likewise  in  an  alternative  antiphon  for  Benedidus  : — 

Regina  gloriae  Maria  diceris, 
dulcis  memoriae  primis  et  posteris, 
nam  legis  veteris  praedita  litteris 
es  nostri  generis  decus  historiae 
sis  nobis  miseris  in  lacu  funeris 
et  tuis  famulis  scutum  victoriae. 

This  ofhce  can  only  have  been  in  use  in  the  Enghsh 
province,  for  the  printed  liturgical  books,  until  1579  inclu- 
sive, content  themselves  witli  the  common  office  and  Mass 
of  Our  Lady  with  the  exception  of  the  prayers.  But  after 
the  Carmelite  hturgy  had  been  brought  into  closer  harmony 


Originally  a  canon  of  Bridlington,  afterwards  Carmelite  recluse  at 
St.  Botolph's.  He  died  about  1480.  His  rhymed  office  on  Our  Lady  of 
Dolours  was  introduced  in  the  Order  in  1489.  Robert  Bale,  Prior  of 
Burnham,  »i<  iith  November,  1503.  He  wrote,  among  other  works,  the  office 
of  the  Raptus  St.  Eliae  (17th  June),  contained  in  the  Cambridge  MS.  In 
it  he  has  drawn  largely  on  two  offices  of  St.  Eliseus,  contained  respectively  in 
the  MS.  Add.,  12,195,  and  the  Brussels  Breviary.  He  also  wrote  an  ofBce 
for  the  feast  of  St.  Simon  Stock,  beginning  Ave  Simon  pater  indite,  which  we 
have  not  been  fortunate  enough  to  secure. 


234  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


with  the  new  Roman  books  (1584),  it  was  deemed  advisable 
to  obtain  a  new  set  of  lessons  setting  forth  the  whole  of  the 
Carmelite  tradition.  They  were  approved  by  the  Sacred 
Congregation  of  Rites  in  1609  on  the  recommendation  of 
Cardinal  Bellarmine,  and  again  under  Urban  VIII.,  and 
have  been  extended  to  the  whole  Church.  It  is  too  well 
known  to  need  mention  here  what  a  prominent  part  tliey 
played  in  the  interminable  disputes  between  the  Carmelites 
and  Father  Papebroch. 

Benedict  Zimmerman,  o.c.d. 

To  be  co'ttinued.] 


[  235  ] 


THE  FRANCISCAN  FAMILIES 

ON  St.  Matthias'  day,^  1208,  Francis  of  Assisi  was 
present  at  Mass  in  the  little  church  of  the  Porzi- 
uncola,  and  being  struck  for  the  first  time  with 
the  full  sublimity  of  the  Gospel  of  poverty,^  which 
happened  to  be  the  Gospel  of  the  Feast,  he  took  the  shoes 
from  off  his  feet,  and  discarding  the  conventional  hermit's 
dress  which  he  had  worn  since  his  first  conversion,  he  put 
on  a  rough  tunic,  girded  himself  with  a  rope,  and  thus  stood 
clad  for  the  first  time  in  the  habit  of  a  Friar  Minor.  In  a 
sense  his  Order  may  be  said  to  date  from  that  day.  His 
first  two  disciples,  Bernard  of  Quintavalle  and  Peter  Catani, 
joined  him  on  the  i6th  April  of  the  same  year  ;  that  is 
another  date  which_may  be  taken  as  the  date  of  the  founda- 
tion, for  an  Order  can  scarcely  be  said  to  exist,  except 
potentially,  in  its  founder  only.  But  the  real  date  of  the 
foundation  is  rather  a  year  later  (conventionally  the  i6th 
April,  1209)  when  St.  Francis  and  his  first  eleven  disciples 
presented  their  Rule  for  approval  to  Innocent  III.,  and 
made  their  profession  as  Friars  Minor  into  the  hands  of 
the  Supreme  Pontiff. 

The  religious  professing  the  Rule  of  St.  Francis  remained 
undivided  for  some  three  hundred  years.  Not  that  there 
were  not  varieties  of  Franciscans  during  this  period,  but 
a  variety  does  not  constitute  a  species,  and  where  there  is 
one  head  there  is  but  one  body.  It  was  not  until  1517 
that  the  modern  Conventual  Friars  obtained  a  separate 
head,  called  in  the  Bull  of  Pope  Leo  X.  a  Master-Genevsil, 
and  were  recognised  by  the  Pope  as  a  separate  Franciscan 
family.  At  the  same  time  that  body  of  Friars  known  as 
'  Observantins '  was  recognised  as  constituting  the  legiti- 
mate descendants  of  St.  Francis,  and  their  head  was  styled 
'  the  Minister-General  of  the  whole  Order  of  Friars  Minor.' 
In  1619  the  Capuchins,  a  variety  of  Franciscan  founded 


*  24th  February. 


'  Matth.  X.  9  et  scqq. 


236  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


in  1525,  obtained  a  separate  head  of  their  own.  So  that 
the  great  society  founded  by  St.  Francis  became  divided 
into  tliree  branches,  each  having  its  own  chief,  and  each 
distinct  from  the  other,  the  Friars  Minor  Observantin,  tlie 
Friars  Minor  Conventual,  and  the  Friars  Minor  Capuchin, 

Franciscan  is  a  generic  term  :  but  it  is  a  most  important 
matter  to  understand  quite  clearly  to  what  species  or 
variety  a  particular  Friar  Minor  belongs.  If  we  read  that 
Leonard  of  Port  Maurice  was  a  Franciscan  that  is  something  ; 
but  not  until  we  know  that  he  belonged  to  the  '  Riformati, 
or  rather  '  Riformelli,'  do  we  know  his  real  Minoritic  status. 
The  subject  is  vast  and  not  without  complications,  and  calls 
for  the  majesty  of  in-folio,  but  in  this  article  we  will,  at 
least,  try  to  arrive  at  names,  a  rough  classification,  and 
the  true  nature  of  such  differentiations  or  structural  changes 
as  have  taken  place.  Roughly  speaking,  there  have  been 
three  kinds  of  division  in  the  Franciscan  Order  :  (i)  Friars 
who  separated  themselves  at  periods  of  relaxation  from 
the  community  of  the  Order  or  common  life  the  better  to 
observe  the  Rule  of  the  Founder,  but  who  remained  subject 
to  the  hierarchical  superiors  of  the  Order,  and  never  sought 
a  separate  head  of  their  own,  i.e.,  the  so-called  '  Caesareni ' 
in  the  early  days  of  the  Order,  the  family  of  the  Blessed 
Paoluccio  Trinci  in  1368,  the  Amadeites  in  1464,  etc.  ;  (2) 
Friars  who  separated  themselves  that  they  might  live  under 
duly  authorised  dispensations  from  the  substance  of  the 
Rule,  i.e.,  the  Conventuals  ;  (3)  Friars,  who,  while  observing 
the  strict  Rule  separated  themselves  to  become  an  indepen- 
dent congregation  under  an  independent  head,  i.e.,  the 
Capuchins,  since  i6ig.  From  this  it  will  be  seen  that  a 
section  of  the  Order  may  be  separated  from  the  parent 
stock  numerice  only  as  in  the  case  of  the  Capuchins,  specifice 
only  as  in  the  case  of  the  Conventuals  immediately  after 
1517,^  numerice  and  specifice  as  in  the  case  of  the  modern 
Conventuals.    The  Capuchins  being  separated  numerice  only 


^  Pope  Leo  required  that  the  election  of  the  Conventual  Master-General 
should  be  confirmed  by  the  Observantin  Minister-General,  thus  theoretically, 
at  least,  preserving  the  unity  of  the  Order  by  placing  the  legitimate  source  of 
authority  in  one  head. 


THE  FRANCISCAN  FAMILIES 


237 


remain  Friars  Minor  specifice  and  generice  ;  the  Conventuals 
now  being  separated  numerice  and  specifice  remain  Friars 
Minor  generice  only.  There  have  also  been  many  Fran- 
ciscan groups  in  the  past  who  only  differed  accidentaliter 
from  the  parent  stock  :  they  were  under  the  obedience  of 
the  Minister-General  and  therefore  were  not  separated 
numerice,  they  observed  the  Rule  ad  litteram  and  therefore 
did  not  differ  specificeA  Such  were  the  '  Riformati '  of 
Italy,  the  Discalced  Friars  of  Spain,  the  Recollects  of 
France,  Belgium  and  Germany.  All  these  had  their  own 
particular  '  Constitutions,'  but  these  Constitutions  did  not 
in  any  way  detract  from  the  substance  of  the  Rule  ;  indeed, 
they  did  but  rather  add  to  its  severity. 

The  Franciscan  ideal  was  the  loftiest  ever  set  in  express 
terms  before  the  world.  Hundreds  of  thousands  of  men 
before  the  day  of  St.  Francis,  had  left  all  to  follow  the  Lord, 
but  in  leaving  all  that  was  their  own,  it  was  only  to  become, 
even  though  they  may  have  often  been  unconscious  of  the 
fact,  part  owner  in  the  property  of  large  bodies  corporate. 
The  individual  in  a  religious  Order  owned  nothing  ;  the 
Order  itself,  or  its  individual  houses,  may  have  enjoyed  large 
revenues.  St.  Francis  was  to  found  an  Order  in  which 
neither  the  body  corporate  nor  the  individual  owned  any- 
thing. It  was  in  this  that  he  differed  from  all  other  founders  ; 
his  Order  owned  nothing,  and  to  this  day  owns  nothing. 
The  churches  in  which  his  brethren  praise  God  and  ad- 
minister the  Sacraments  ;  the  houses  in  which  they  live  and 
work  ;  the  grounds  or  yards  attaching  to  such  houses — all 
are  the  property  of  someone  else,  but  never  of  the  Order. 
The  Holy  See  itself  is  usually  the  owner  ;  but  in  some  cases 
the  property  may  be  private  property,  as  in  the  well-known 
case  of  the  famous  convent  of  St.  Damian's  at  Assisi  of 
which  the  Friars  enjoy  the  use,  but  which  is  the  property 
of  the  Marquis  of  Ripon.^     Let  nobody  say  that  it  came 


*  See  that  masterly  work,  Brcvis  Historin  Ofdinis  Minorum,  by  Peter  Van 
den  Haute,  a  Belgian  Recollect  (Rome.  1777,  fol.),  Tract.  II.;  De  Essentia 
tt  Divisione  Ord.  Min  ,  passim,  and  especially  cap.  iv.  De  Divisione  Primaria 
and  cap.  xvi.  De  Divisione  Specifica. 

'  Over  the  entrance  of  the  Church  of  St.  Damian's  is  a  picture  of  a 
golden  buck  at  gaze,  the  crest  of  the  Robinson  family,  encircled  by  the  Garter 


238  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


to  the  same  thing  in  the  end  ;  that  the  Franciscan  friar 
practically  owned  property  because  he  had  the  use  of  it. 
When  the  despoiler  came  along  at  the  Protestant  Refor- 
mation or  the  French  Revolution,  the  individul  Benedictine 
could  allege  his  corporate  interest  in  the  property  from  which 
he  was  forcibly  ejected  ;  the  Franciscan  could  only  say,  it 
is  not  ours  certainly,  but  neither  is  it  yours  who  seize  upon 
it. 

This  is  the  main  thing  to  bear  in  mind  about  the  Friars 
Minor  :  they  owned  no  property,  not  even  corporatelyi 
Whenever  in  history  we  come  across  Friars  Minor  owning 
property,  there  we  have  Friars  Minor  breaking  their  Rule. 
Always  excepting  the  Conventuals  who,  since  the  Council 
of  Trent,  have  been  allowed  to  own  property  corporately. 
The  greatest  enemy  to  the  Franciscan  ideal  has  been  the 
world  itself.  Although  the  world  knew  that  this  particular 
body  of  men  wished  to  possess  nothing,  although  it  admired 
them  chiefly  for  that  reason,  yet  the  world  did  its  best  to 
make  them  accept  priceless  possessions.  The  world  ought 
to  admire  the  Conventuals  who  took  its  gifts  ;  religion 
ought  to  be  grateful  to  them  ;  they  were  always  something 
of  a  safety-valve  which  helped  to  preserve  the  more  rarefied 
aspects  of  the  Franciscan  ideal  to  the  rest  of  the  Order. 
But  the  subject  of  the  use  of  property  by  Franciscans,  of 
the  alms  and  revenues  administered  and  held  for  them  by 
gentlemen  extraneous  to  the  Order  and  known  as  '  Syndici 
Apostolici,'  likewise  merits  the  majesty  of  in-folio  and 
cannot  possibly  be  treated  here.'' 

An  ideal  as  high  as  that  contemplated  by  the  Rule  of 
St.  Francis  is  almost  certain,  in  human  hands,  to  lead  first 
to  disputations,  then  to  disintegrations.  But  for  the  strong 
hand  of  the  Popes  the  great  work  of  St.  Francis  would  not 
have  survived  him  half  a  century.    Yet  in  spite  of  brutal 


and  its  motto,  Honi  soi  qui  rnal  y  pensc.  No  one  certainly  will  think  evil  of 
the  Most  Honourable  Marquis  for  having  saved  this  historical  monument, 
perhaps  for  ever,  from  the  outrages  of  modern  vandalism. 

*  The  austere  and  reforming  Minister-General,  the  Blessed  John  of 
Parma,  obtained  the  institution  of  '  Syndici  Apostolici '  (the  '  Amici  spiri- 
tuales  '  of  cap.  iv.  of  St.  Francis'  Rule)  by  Pope  Innocent  IV. 's  Bull,  Quantn 
Stuciiosiis,  1247, 


THE  FRANCISCAN  FAMILIES 


239 


onslaughts  upon  the  ideal  from  without,  and  insidious  on- 
slaughts from  within,  it  confronts  us  to  this  day,  not  always 
in  its  first  freshness,  but  having  within  it,  potentially,  the 
whole  spirit  of  St.  Francis  which  at  any  unlooked-for  moment 
might  lead  his  latter-day  brethren  into  the  Enochian  walk 
of  the  first  disciples.  No  religious  Order  has  been  such  a 
source  of  constant  preoccupation  to  the  Popes  ;  threatened 
with  total  extinction  from  without,  threatened  from  partial 
extinction  from  within,  the  Popes  have  known  in  these 
times  of  stress  how  to  preserve  the  whole  ideal  in  petto  as 
a  spiritual  treasury  upon  which  they  afterwards  draw,  while 
for  the  time  being  they  had  to  be  content  with  giving  to 
this  section  or  that  of  the  Order  that  half  ideal  which  is 
better  than  none. 

It  was  by  an  instinct  which  we  can  understand  his 
modern  followers  calling  divine,  that  St.  Francis,  above 
all  founders  of  Orders,  placed  his  family  under  Papal 
protection  and  instituted  the  system  of  Cardinal  Protectors 
which  has  since  been  adopted  by  all  religious  Orders. 
The  curious  tendency  to  disintegration  in  the  Order  con- 
sequent upon  the  great  variety  of  life  possible  under  its 
ideal,  is  best  manifested  by  the  great  number  of  names 
which,  in  history,  all  mean  Franciscan  Friar.  The  real 
name  of  the  Order  was  that  of  the  Friars  Minor,  but  Caesa- 
reno,  Narbonese,  Coelestino,  Clareno,  Coletano,  Amadeito, 
Caperolano,  Friar  of  the  Holy  Gospel  or  Capuce,  Neutral, 
Friar  of  the  Community,  Conventual,  Reformed  Conventual, 
Friar  of  the  '  Family,'  of  the  Cismontane  Family,  of  the 
Ultramontane  Family,  Grey  Friar,  Observantin,  Zocco- 
lante,  Bernardino,  Riformato,  Nottolino,  Riformello,  Cor- 
delier, Recollect,  Alcantarino,  Descalzo,  Capuchin — all  these 
terms  (and  there  are  some  others)  signify  a  member  of  that 
great  Order,  so  rich  in  the  spiritual  life,  founded  by  the 
poor  man  of  Assisi  as  a  single  association  with  one  chief 
only.  Nearly  all  these  branches  or  families  came  into  being 
as  a  reassertion  of  that  contemplative  or  eremitical  life 
which  was  as  the  groundwork  of  St.  Francis'  scheme,  but 
which  being  coupled  with  the  active  life,  was  the  side  most 
exposed  to  relaxation.    The  times  of  greatest  crisis  in  the 


240  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


Order  have  occurred  when  it  failed  to  provide  proper 
nurseries  of  the  eremitical  life  for  the  development  of  its 
holiest  souls. 

;,The  disciples  of  St.  Francis  were,  as  I  have  said,  called 
Friars  Minor  by  their  holy  founder.  It  is  a  name  which 
has  found  but  little  favour.  Thousands  of  people  are 
familiar  with  the  term  Franciscan  who  do  not  know  that  it 
is  synonymous  with  Friar  Minor.  So  early  as  1236,  only 
ten  years  after  the  death  of  St.  Francis,  we  came  across 
Friars  Minor  with  another  designation,  the  Caesareni. 
These  were  the  friars,  zealous  for  the  literal  observance 
of  the  Rule,  who  joined  themselves  to  the  holy  Caesareus 
of  Spires  in  his  protest  against  the  relaxations  introduced 
by  the  famous  Minister-General,  Elias.  They  were  never 
in  any  sense  a  separate  body  though  to  be  found  chiefly 
in  the  remote  hermitages  of  the  Order.  With  the  advent 
of  the  zealous  Minister-General,  Giovanni  da  Parma,  in 
1247,  the  Caesareni  may  be  said  to  have  ceased  to  exist. 
All  they  had  desired  was  to  observe  the  austerity  and  sim- 
plicity of  the  earliest  Franciscan  life,  and  that  had  now 
become  possible  outside  the  hermitages.  But  in  returning 
freely  to  the  convents  they  may  be  said  to  have  leavened 
the  whole  Order  in  Italy  with  the  true  Franciscan  spirit 
which  they  had  preserved  in  retirement.  Frate  Elia  has 
been  handled  very  severely  by  some  chroniclers  and  his- 
torians, and  he  merits  some  of  their  severity.  But  his  great 
defect,  as  a  ruler,  was  that  while  fostering,  often  with 
splendid  results,  the  active  side  of  the  Order,  he  neglected, 
undervalued,  and  finally  almost  despised  its  eremitical  life. 

The  Order  of  Friars  Minor,  as  I  have  said,  remained 
united  under  one  head  for  over  three  hundred  years,  with 
the  exception  of  two  relatively  small  branches  which  had 
a  separate  existence  nmnerice.  But  during  this  time  many 
branches,  differing  from  the  parent  stock  accidentaliter , 
grew  apace  and  flourished.  And  the  first  of  these  was  the 
Coelestini,  started  in  1294  by  Era  Liberato  de  Macerata. 
They  were  the  only  Franciscans  who  ever  formalty  re- 
nounced the  name  of  Friars  Minor,  for  while  the  rationale 
of  their  existence  was  the  literal  observance  of  the  Rule 


THE  FRANCISCAN  FAMILIES 


241 


of  St.  Francis,  they  gladly  took  upon  themselves  the  name 
of  Poor  Hermits  of  Pope  Coelestin,  and  separated  altogether 
from  the  Order.  The  hermit  Pope,  St.  Coelestin  V.,  who 
had  sanctioaed  their  existence  and  given  them  their  name, 
kept  the  Chair  of  Peter  for  five  months  only,  and  his  prin- 
cipal work  was  to  protect  and  establish  these  zealous  friars. 
The  Coelestini  did  not  live  long  :  '  de  se  quasi  evanuit 
Coelestinorum  Congregatio,'  says  Perer  Van  den  Haute. 
But  the  seed  they  had  sowed  sprung  up  in  the  Narbonesi 
and  Clareni,  two  Congregations  which  I  can  but  mention 
here. 

The  Narbonesi  faded  away  like  the  Coelestini,  but  the 
Clareni,  founded  by  Fra  Angelo  Clareno,  survived  to  the 
days  of  Leo  X.  and  even  Pius  V.  Until  1472  they  existed 
entirely  separate  from  the  Order  under  the  obedience  of 
the  diocesan  ordinary.  In  that  year  the  greater  part  of 
them  returned  to  the  obedience  of  the  Minister-General, 
retaining  their  peculiar  habit  (the  becha)  and  their  own 
constitutions.  The  Coletani,  sprung  from  the  reform  of 
St.  Colette  among  Minorite  nuns  in  the  fifteenth  century, 
form  yet  another  Congregation  of  Minorite  Friars.  A  more 
important  Congregation  were  the  Amadeiti,  founded  in 
Italy  by  the  Blessed  Amadeus,  a  noble  Portuguese.  From 
a  Jeronymite  hermit  he  became  a  Franciscan  lay-brother 
in  1451,  and  was  ordained  priest  in  1459.  None  of  the 
Franciscan  families  of  the  fifteenth  century,  except  the 
Clareni,  had  ever  been  separated  from  the  community  of 
the  Order,  but  lived  under  the  obedience  of  the  Ministers- 
Provincial  and  the  Minister-General.  Their  separation  was 
confined  to  living  in  their  own  houses  under  their  own 
constitutions,  and  sprang  from  the  desire  of  a  more  perfect 
observance  of  the  Rule. 

It  was  one  of  these  small  families,  originated  by  a  lay- 
brother  in  a  retired  hermitage,  which  was  eventually  to 
fill  the  world  with  its  name  and  save  the  Order.  Paoluccio 
Trinci,  of  the  noble  house  of  Trinci — his  cousin,  Ugolino, 
was  Lord  of  Foligno — obtained  in  1368  the  leave  of  his 
superiors  to  retire  to  the  little  convent  of  Brogliano  in 
Umbria,  with  a  few  frairs  like-minded  with  himself,  and 

VOL.  XV.  Q 


242  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


there  live  the  poor  and  abject  Hves  of  the  first  Franciscans. 
By  1374  this  httle  reform  possessed  six  convents.  Fra 
Paohiccio  aimed  at  no  novelties  :  his  reform  was  strictly 
under  the  obedience  of  the  Ministers-Provincial,  that  is  to 
say  his  convents  never  formed  separate  provinces  in  them- 
selves, but  continued  to  form  part  of  the  regular  Minorite 
provinces.  It  is  true  that  in  1388  Fra  Paoluccio  was 
appointed  by  the  Minister-General  Commissary  in  the 
government  of  the  reform,  but  this  in  no  way  separated  it 
in  substance  from  the  Order.  The  followers  of  Fra  Paoluccio 
came  to  be  called  '  Friars  of  the  Family  '  in  contradistinction 
to  the  bulk  of  the  Order,  the  '  Friars  of  the  Community.' 
They  were  popularly  known,  too,  as  Zoccolanti  (Latin, 
calopedes)  from  wearing  sandals  with  wooden  soles.  But 
the  name  by  which  they  live  in  history  is  Observantin  or 
Friars  of  the  Observance,  for  Fra  Paoluccio's  tiny  reform 
was  to  grow  into  the  great  Observantin  family  with  its 
numerous  offshoots.  He  died  at  Foligno,  on  the  17th 
September,  1391,  aged  81,  having  spent  sixty-seven  years 
of  his  holy  life  in  the  Order  of  St.  Francis. 

In  1402  one  of  the  great  lights  of  Christendom  joined 
the  Friars  of  the  '  Family  '  as  a  novice — Bernardine  of 
Siena.  So  greatly  did  his  influence  contribute  to  the  spread 
of  the  '  Family  ' — it  had  about  300  convents  and  5,000 
subjects  in  Italy  alone  when  the  saint  died  in  1444 — that 
he  has  often  been  erroneously  spoken  of  as  its  founder. 
But  the  humble  and  holy  aristocrat  lay-brother,  Paoluccio 
Trinci,  has  a  clear  title  to  that  honour.  In  1414  another 
saint  joined  the  '  Family  ' — St.  John  of  Capistran — and 
yet  another  in  1416,  San  Giacomo  della  Marca.  About 
this  time  too,  flourished  Pedro  of  Villacreces  who  estab- 
lished his  '  houses  of  Recollection  '  in  Spain,  and  can  reckon 
S.  Pedro  Regelado  (ob.  1456)  among  his  disciples.  So  great 
had  the  influence  of  the  '  Family  '  become  that  in  1415  the 
care  of  the  Porziuncola,  the  holiest  spot  in  the  Orbis 
Seraphicus,  was  taken  from  the  '  Friars  of  the  Community  ' 
and  given  to  the  '  Friars  of  the  Family.'  Other  famous 
Franciscan  houses  were  already  in  their  possession,  as  for 


THE  FRANCISCAN  FAMILIES 


243 


instance,  the  Career!  above  Assisi,  St.  Damian's,  and 
Greccio.    Aracoeli  in  Rome  they  obtained  in  1445. 

Anno  Domini,  1415,  is  an  important  year  in  many  ways 
in  the  history  of  the  Franciscan  Order.  The  Council  of 
Constance  met  in  that  year,  and  it  was  at  the  Council  of 
Constance  that  the  terms  '  Observantin  '  and  '  Observance  ' 
first  came  into  being,  as  opposed  to  '  Vita  Communis  '  or 
'  Vita  Communitatis.'  At  the  Council  of  Constance  eleven 
French  Franciscan  convents  belonging  to  the  Provinces  of 
Burgundy,  Touraine,  and  France  properly  so-called,  ob- 
tained a  separate  existence  in  the  sense  that  they  were 
allowed  to  have  Vicars-Provincial.  That  is  to  say,  that 
within  the  regular  Province  of  the  '  Community  '  certain 
convents  were  allowed  existance  as  a  Provincial  unit  under 
a  Vicar-FvovindaA  nominated  by  the  Minister-Provincial. 

The  unity  of  the  Province  thus  remained  unaffected  ;  only 
certain  convents  within  it  were  accorded  a  semi-independent 
existence  by  sanction  of  authority.    This  has  ever  been 
the  marvel  of  the  Catholic  Church  and  the  chief  admiration 
of  those  who  study  her  ways  with  sympathy  and  intelligence, 
that  she  has  known  how  to  contain  a  kaleidoscopic  variety 
of  system  and  sentiment  within  the  sharp  bounds  of  a 
clearly  defined  unity.  It  was  to  these  eleven  French  convents 
that  the  term  '  Observantin  '  was  first  applied,  but  it  must 
not  be  forgotten  that  all  the  other  convents  of  the  '  Family  ' 
were  strenuously  observing  the  Rule,  though  as  yet  having 
only  separate  houses  and  in  no  sense  a  separate  Provincial 
existence.    The  imperium  in  imperio  is  a  constant  feature 
in  Franciscan  life,  and  the  principle  of  it  must  be  constantly 
borne  in  mind  in  studying  the  intricate  developments  of 
Franciscan  history.    In  1438  St.  Bernardine  of  Siena  was 
Commissary  or    Vicar-General  of   the  '  Family.'  Pope 
Eugenius  IV.  was  in  the  Chair  of  Peter,  and  he  was  extra- 
ordinarily zealous  in  his  endeavours  to  bring  about  a  strict 
observance  of  the  Rule  in  the  Minorite  Order.    In  1443, 
by  the  Bull  Fratrum  Ordinis  Minormn,  he  divided  the 
Observantins  into  two  families,  the  Cismontane  and  the 
Ultramontane  family,  giving  to  each  its  own  Vicar-General 
under  obedience  of  the  Minister-General.    In  1445  he  went 


244  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


a  step  further  and  by  the  Bull  Ut  Sacra  Ordinis  Minorum 
granted  to  the  whole  body  of  Observantins  the  privilege 
accorded  at  the  Council  of  Constance  to  eleven  convents  of 
three  French  Provinces,  namely,  existence  as  Provinical 
units  under  Vicars-Provincial,  subject  to  the  Ministers- 
Provincial,  which  of  course  brought  with  it  the  right  to  hold 
separate  Provincial  Chapters. 

By  the  same  Bull  he  effectively  divided  the  Observan- 
tins into  two  distinct  families  under  Vicars-General,  each 
with  the  right  to  hold  its  General  Chapter  separate  from 
the  other.  The  Cismontane  Family  consisted  of  the 
Provinces  in  the  following  countries  :  Italy,  Dalmatia, 
Crete,  Bosnia,  Austria,  Bohemia,  Poland,  Corsica,  Ragusa, 
Hungary,  Tyrol,  Albania,  and  the  Holy  Land.  And  the 
Ultramontane  Family  was  located  in  the  following  countries  : 
France,  Spain,  Germany,  Portugal,  Ireland,  Scotland, 
England,  the  Low  Countries,  Sardinia,  to  which  were 
afterwards  added  America  and  India.  The  Cismontane 
Vicar-General  resided  at  Rome,  the  Ultramontane  Vicar- 
General  at  Madrid.  Thus  was  the  Observantin  branch  of 
the  Order,  '  the  Friars  of  the  Family  '  originated  by  Fra 
Paoluccio  Trinci,  divided  administratively  into  two  very 
distinct  families.  But  in  all  this  the  unity  of  the  Order 
remained  intact,  for  all  were  subject  to  the  authority  of 
the  Minister-General.  The  two  Observantin  Vicars-General 
may  be  looked  upon  as  powerful  vassals,  ruling  their  large 
fiefs  in  practical  independence  of  the  overlord,  but  they  did 
homage  to  the  overlord  and  recognised  his  suzeranity. 

The  Friars  of  the  '  Community  '  now  began  very  generally 
to  be  called  Conventuals.  The  learned  author  of  the  Sccoli 
Serafici  states  that  the  first  official  document  which  contains 
the  expression  '  Conventual '  is  Eugenius  IV. 's  Bull  Super 
Gregem  (1431)-  Innocent  IV.  {Cum  tanquam,  1250)  decreed 
that  Franciscan  churches,  where  convents  existed,  might 
be  called  Conventual  churches  and  practically  take  rank 
as  Collegiate  churches.  But  the  Friars  did  not  then  come 
to  be  called  Conventuals  as  signifying  any  distinct  section 
of  the  Order,  but  merely  to  indicate  the  inmate  of  a  convent, 
as  for  instance,  cum  essem  Conventualis  ibi  -J    '  When  I  was 


THE  FRANCISCAN  FAMILIES 


245 


a  member  of  that  convent.'  In  1413  a  determined  effort 
was  made  to  unite  the  '  Community  '  and  the  '  Family  '  in 
a  strict  observance  of  the  Rule.  At  the  General  Chapter 
held  at  Assisi  in  that  year,  Constitutions  framed  by  St.  John 
of  Capistran,  known  as  the  Constitutiones  Martinianae  from 
being  embodied  in  the  Bull  Cum  Generate  Capitulum  of 
Martin  V.  (21st  June,  1430),  were  adopted  by  all  present. 

There  was  only  one  point  on  which  the  Rule  was  gravely 
departed  from.  A  number  of  houses  of  the  '  Community  ' 
either  held  real  property,  or  enjoyed,  through  the  adminis- 
tration of  their  '  Syndic!  Apostolici,'  regular  incomes  from 
real  property  for  which  they  had  contracted  some  obligation. 
This,  though  perfectly  compatible  with  a  holy  life  and  a 
poor  life,  was  unquestionably  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  Fran- 
ciscanjpoverty,  and  a  clear  derogation  from  the  Rule.  The 
efforts  of  the  Minister-General,  Fra  Guglielmo  da  Casale, 
who  had  been  elected  at  the  General  Chapter  for  the  purpose 
of  putting  down  this  abuse,  proved  unavailing.  He  became 
discouraged  almost  at  once,  and  prevailed  upon  Pope  Martin 
V.  in  the  same  year  to  allow  such  houses,  as  chose,  to  enjoy 
incomes  from  real  property,  but  not  to  own  such  property. 
This  dispensation  was  granted  by  the  Ball  Ad  Statuni  Ordinis 
(.\ugust  23rd),  and  we  now  for  the  first  time  have  Friars 
Minor  lawfully  dispensed  from  the  observance  of  an  article 
of  their  Rule.  Note  tliat  by  no  means  all  the  convents  of 
the  '  Community  '  availed  themselves  of  this  dispensation, 
and  such  as  did  not  may  fairly  be  described  as  houses  where 
the  Rule  was  observed,  though  they  did  not  formally  pass 
over  to  the  Friars  of  the  '  Family.'^ 

I  must  not  dwell  upon,  and  yet  cannot  altogether  omit, 
the  reform  of  Juan  de  la  Pueblo,  a  holy  Spaniard,  who  after 
seven  years  of  austere  life  in  the  hermitage  of  Career!  above 
Assisi,  founded  a  few  convents  in  Spain  on  a  similar  model 


'  .\lvarus  Pelagius,  De  Planctu  Ecclesiae,  quoted  by  Padre  Palomes  in  his 
Dei  Fratri  Miuori.    Palermo,  1897,  p.  27. 

*  It  is  important  to  distinguish  between  the  mere  relaxation  of  the 
severity  of  the  religious  life  and  the  formal  abandonment  of  any  article  of  the 
Rule.  When  religious  houses  are  spoken  of  as  being  '  relaxed,'  it  does  not 
necessarily  follow  that  they  are  formally  breaking  their  Rule. 


246  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


which  came  to  be  known  as  convents  of  the  Strict  Observ- 
ance. These  convents  were  not  under  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  Vicars-Provincial  of  the  Ultramontane  family  (Obser- 
vantins).  but  under  the  obedience  of  the  Ministers- Provincial 
of  the  Community  (Conventuals).  Fra  Juan  died  in  1495, 
and  in  1496  one  of  his  most  fervent  disciples,  Fra  Juan  de 
Guadelupe,  obtained  leave  from  Alexander  VT.  (an  in- 
different Pope  who  yet  had  the  good  of  the  Church  much 
at  heart^)  to  yet  further  reform  his  master's  '  reform.'  He 
founded  a  '  Custodia  ' — a  division  of  a  Minorite  province 
corresponding  something  to  the  hundred  of  a  county — 
called  of  the  Holy  Gospel  whence  his  '  Frailes  '  came  to  be 
called  the  '  Fratres  de  Sancto  Evangelico  ;'  also  '  de  Caputio,' 
from  a  pointed  hood  introduced  into  the  habit  by  Fra  Juan. 
They  were  also  known  as  the  '  Discalced  Friars,'  from  the 
fact  that  they  went  completely  barefoot  without  sandals 
or  '  zoccoli,'  but  they  must  not  be  confounded  with  the 
famous  barefoot  Franciscans  of  Spain  that  came  into  being 
in  the  following  century.  The  Friars  '  de  Sancto  Evangelico' 
played  a  noble  part  in  the  evangelisation  of  the  New  World, 
but  popular  historians  fail  to  distinguish  them,  as  they  should, 
from  other  Franciscans.  The  first  question,  I  repeat,  to 
ask  about  a  Franciscan  when  one  comes  across  him  in  history 
is  :  To  what  section  of  tlie  Order  did  he  belong  ?  Otherwise 
the  term  Franciscan  has  but  a  vague  signification. 

The  year  1517  is  a  most  important  year  in  the  history 
of  the  Friars  Minor.  In  that  year  Leo  X.  resolved  to  unite 
in  one  body  all  the  various  sections  of  the  Order  that  ob- 
served the  Rale,  and  give  them  a  chief  of  their  own  who 
was  to  be  the  Minister-General  of  the  Order  and  conse- 
quently the  real  successor  of  St.  Francis  ruling  over  the 
Friars  Minor.  By  the  Bull  of  Union  Ita  et  vos  (29th  May, 
1517),  he  united  in  one  body  the  Observantins,  the  Amadeiti, 
the  Clareni,  the  Coletani,  the  Spanish  Barefoot  Friars,  '  de 
Sancto  Evangelico,'  the  reformed  friars  under  the  juris- 
diction of  the  '  Community,'  all  Franciscans  in  fact  who 
were  observing  the  Rule  and  not  availing  themselves  of 


*  '  Sa  bullaire  6tait  irriSproachable,'  says  De  Maistre. 


THE  FRANCISCAN  FAMILIES 


247 


any  dispensations  however  lawful.  This  great  body  is 
described  in  the  Bull  (§  13)  as  the  '  Friars  Minor  of  St. 
Francis  of  the  Regular  Observance,'  and  also  (§  14)  simply 
as  '  Friars  Minor.'  They  became  in  fact  the  Community, 
the  Order.  Those  friars  who  continued  to  live  under  dis- 
pensations (the  Conventuals)  were  formed  by  the  Pope  into 
a  separate  religious  body  (see  the  Bull  Omnipotens  Deus, 
I2th  June,  1517).  Their  chief,  whose  election  had  to  be 
confirmed  by  the  Minister-General,  was  called  a  Master- 
General  ;  the  heads  of  their  Provinces  M aster s-Fvovincials. 
The  Conventuals  were  thus  divided  specifice  only  from  the 
Observantins,  not  nunierice,  for  in  theory  at  least  the  whole 
Order  depended  from  one  head.  By  the  Bull  the  Obser- 
vantins were  to  take  precedence  of  the  Conventuals  upon 
all  occasions. 

About  seventy  years  later  the  Conventual  Master-General 
began  to  call  liimself  Minister-General,  and  the  title  has  very 
generally  been  accorded  him  ever  since,  even  in  Apostolic 
letters,  though  the  ordinance  of  Leo  X.  was  never  formally 
revoked.  The  Minister-General  never  availed  himself  of  his 
right  to  confirm  the  election  of  the  Master-General,  there- 
fore it  is  best  to  regard  the  Conventuals  as  a  separate  body, 
even  numerice,  from  the  year  1517.  In  1565  they  accepted 
the  indult  of  the  Council  of  Trent  allowing  Mendicant  Orders 
to  own  property,  and  thus  became  even  more  effectually 
differentiated  specifice.  As  regards  the  Observantins  the 
distinction  of  Cismontane  and  Ultramontane  remained  ;  so 
vast  a  spiritual  empire  was  too  cumbrous  for  government 
by  one  head  ;  therefore  the  Minister-General  was  chosen 
alternately  from  the  two  families,  and  the  remaining  family 
was  governed  by  a  Commissary -General,  confirmed  by  the 
Minister-General,  but  ruling  in  practical  independence  of 
him.  The  Vicars-Provincial  had,  of  course,  now  become 
Ministers-Provincial,  and  each  of  the  two  families  held  its 
own  Chapters  General.  As  before  the  headquarters  of  the 
Cismontanes  were  at  Aracoeli  at  Rome,  of  the  Ultramon- 
tanes  at  Madrid. 

Tt  might  be  thought  that  this  union  would  have  effec- 
tually put  an  end  to  the  possibility  or  necessity  of  all  f  urthet 


248  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


'  reforms  '  or  divisions  in  the  Order.  But  the  spirit  of 
St.  Francis  is  the  very  spirit  of  fecundity,  and  within  a 
few  years  of  the  pubh cation  of  the  Ita  et  vos  four  new, 
important,  vigorous,  deeply  spiritual,  and  very  austere 
Franciscan  families  sprang  into  existence,  the  Rijorniati  or 
Fr aires  Strictioris  Observantiae  of  Italy,  the  Alcantarini  or 
Barefoot  Friars  of  Spain,  the  Recollects  of  France,  Ger- 
many, and  the  Low  Countries,  and  the  Capuchins  of  all 
the  world.  The  four  families  are  striking  evidence  of  the 
vigour  and  intensity  of  the  great  Catholic  revival  which 
followed  hard  upon  the  Reformation. 

The  Capuchins  were  started  under  extraordinary  cir- 
cumstances in  1525  by  Fra  Matteo  da  Basci,  a  friar  of 
the  Cismontane  Observantins.  Having  seen  in  a  dream 
or  vision  St.  Francis  wearing  a  habit  with  a  long  pointed 
hood  sewn  on  to  the  tunic,  in  contradistinction  to 
the  rounded  hood  and  capuce  of  the  Observantins  which  is 
detachable  from  the  tunic,  Fra  Matteo  obtained  leave  from 
his  superiors  to  make  himself  a  similar  habit  and  live  by 
himself  as  a  hermit.  He  had  not  at  first  any  idea  of  forming 
another  Franciscan  congregation  :  the  movement  was  en- 
tirely personal  to  himself.  But  other  Franciscans  attracted 
by  his  habit — ^has  it  not  its  fascinations  to  this  day  ? — 
attracted  still  more  by  his  fervour  and  sanctity,  obtained 
leave  to  join  him  in  his  austere  life  and  adopt  his  habit. 
It  was  under  these  singular  circumstances  and  only  eight 
years  after  the  Bulla  Unionis  that  the  world-famed  Capu- 
chins took  their  rise.  In  1528  their  existence  as  a  separate 
congregation  was  approved  by  Clement  VII.  They  obtained 
their  own  Vicars-Provincial  and  Vicar-General,  and  were 
placed  under  the  obedience  of  the  Conventual  Masters-Pro- 
vincial and  Master-General.  Fra  Matteo  was  elected  the 
first  Vicar-General,  but  after  holding  the  office  for  two 
months  only  he  resigned  and  rejoined  the  Observantins. 
The'Tfamily  grew  and  spread  and  flourished  exceedingly,  so 
that  in  1619,  Pope  Paul  V.  made  them  entirely  independent 
of  the  Conventuals,  and  their  twenty-third  Vicar-General, 
Fra  Clemente  da  Noto,  became  the  first  Minister-General  of 
the  Friars  Minor  Capuchin. 


THE  FRANCISCAN  FAMILIES 


249 


The  success  with  which  the  first  Capuchins  revived  the 
priniirive  Franciscan  simphcity  caused  several  hundreds  of 
Observantins  to  go  over  to  them.  The  Order  was,  there- 
fore, obhged  to  seek  some  remedy  for  such  a  state  of  things, 
and  in  1532  obtained  leave  from  Clement  VII.  to  open  in 
every  Province  some  four  or  five  houses  of  a  stricter  observ- 
ance to  which  the  more  fervent  spirits  could  retire  without 
seeking  to  join  the  Capuchin  hermitages.  This  may  be 
taken  as  the  real  beginning  of  these  Frati,  popularly  known 
in  Italy  as  Riformati  and  familiarly  as  '  Nottolini,'  from 
the  nottola  or  clasp  of  wood  and  leather  with  which  they 
fastened  their  cloaks.  Their  convents  remained  under  the 
JMinisters-Provincial  of  the  Observance,  but  were  divided 
into  '  Custodie,'  with  a  Custode  of  the  Reform  at  the  head 
of  each.  In  1639  there  were  twenty-five  of  these  Custodie, 
and  Pope  Urban  VIII.  erected  them  into  Provinces  inde- 
pendent of  the  Observantin  Ministers-Provincial,  but  still 
dependent,  of  course,  upon  the  Minister-General  or  Com- 
missary-General, whichever  happened  to  be  ruling  in  Rome. 
In  1642,  the  Riformati  framed  Constitutions  of  their  own 
which  are  famous  in  the  history  of  the  Order,  and  changed 
the  form  of  the  habit  in  some  respects.  But  notwithstanding 
all  this  they  differed  from  the  parent  stock  accidcntalitcr 
only,  remaining  true  and  effective  Friars  Minor,  generice, 
specifice,  and  numerice}^ 

One  of  the  brightest  ornaments  in  the  Oriis  Seraphicus 
is  the  family  known  as  the  Alcantarini  or  Spanish  Barefoot 
Franciscans.  Never  since  the  foundation  of  the  Order, 
perhaps,  was  the  poor  and  mortified  spirit  of  St.  Francis 
so  thoroughly  revived  as  in  these  friars.  I  have  briefly 
referred  to  the  Discalced  Friars  instituted  by  Fra  Juan  de 
Puebla  in  1487,  and  Fra  Juan  de  Guadeliipe  in  1496,  and 
who  were  known  as  the  '  Fratres  de  Sancto  Evangelico  seu 


1"  I  dare  not  here  pause  to  speak  of  the  '  Friars  of  the  Retreat  '  {Frati  del 
Santo  R'tliro,  popularly  and  lovingly  called  Riforwclli).  an  oftshoot  of  the 
Riformati,  approved  by  authority  in  1662,  and  founded  by  a  Spanish  lay- 
brother,  Fra  Bonaventura  de  Barcelona,  now  the  Venerable,  some  day 
assuredly  to  be  called  Blessed  and  Saint.  Their  fascinating  story,  still  to  be 
told  in  English,  would  assuredly  tempt  me  too  far  outside  the  narrow  bounds 
of  this  brief  study  of  a  great  subject. 


250  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


de  Caputio.'  These  friars  were  joined  to  the  great  Obser- 
vantin  body  by  the  Btdla  Unionis  of  15 17,  but  they  never 
seem  quite  to  have  lost  the  peculiar  practices  of  poverty 
and  meanness  which  made  them  a  distinct  family.  The 
more  fervent  spirits  among  them  considered  that  the  '  union  ' 
caused  a  relaxation  of  the  discipline  in  the  Spanish  Friars 
Minor.  The  Spaniard  more  than  any  other  countryman, 
perhaps,  needs  the  incitement  of  a  high  ideal,  and,  be  it 
said  in  justice  to  him,  he  more  than  any  other  Christian 
has  been  able  to  realize  ideals  of  the  interior  life,  the  dizzy 
heights  of  which  the  commoner  nations  of  Christendom 
dare  scarcely  contemplate.  St.  Peter  of  Alcantara,  the 
real  founder  of  the  Spanish  Barefoot  Friars  Minor  as  they 
came  down  to  us  in  the  nineteenth  century,  lived  perhaps 
the  hardest,  the  most  austerely  supersensual  life  ever 
attained  by  any  saint  in  the  great  inner  history  of  the 
Catholic  Church. 

■  St.  Peter  was  born  in  1499  and  died  in  1562.  His 
reform  was  first  placed  under  the  Conventuals  but  in  the 
year  of  his  death  passed  to  the  obedience  of  the  Obser- 
vantins.  And  note,  so  as  to  avoid  a  common  pitfall, 
that  there  were  Spanish  Discalced  Friars  (two  provinces  of 
them)  in  the  Neapolitan  territories  which  then  formed  an 
appanage  of  the  Spanish  crown.  These  friars  were  of 
course  Italian  in  nationality,  but  Spanish  as  regards  the 
Franciscan  Congregation  to  which  thev  belonged.  They 
continued  to  exist  after  Naples  became  a  kingdom  under 
the  Spanish  Bourbons.  Not  every  Italian  Franciscan, 
therefore,  of  whom  you  read  in  the  seventeenth,  eighteenth, 
or  nineteenth  century,  was  an  Observantin,  a  Conventual, 
Capuchin,  or  a  Riformato  :  he  may  have  been  a  member 
of  the  Spanish  Barefoot  family. 

And  now  de  Recollectis,  and  as  briefly  as  possible.  The 
Recollects  are  the  French  Reformed  Friars.  They  corre- 
spond to  the  Riformati  in  Italy,  and  the  Descalzos  in  Spain, 
but  were  a  congregation  entirely  separate  from  both  having 
their  own  Ministers-Provincial,  but  owning  allegiance  to  the 
Minister-  General  of  the  Observantins.  The  word  '  Reform,' 
or  '  Reformed  '  has  led  to  much  equivocation  in  Franciscan 


THE  FRANCISCAN  FAMILIES 


251 


histon'.  When  we  speak  of  '  Frati  Riformati '  we  may 
mean  friars  who  belonged  to  any  one  of  the  numerous 
'  Reforms'  in  the  Order,  or  we  may  mean  friars  who  belonged 
to  the  Italian  family  called  the  '  Riformati.'  The  Recollects 
and  the  Descalzos  were  both  Reformed  Friars,  but  they 
were  not  Riformati}'^  And  note,  by  the  way,  that  Barefoot 
and  Recollect  alike  may  lead  to  similar  equivocation.  Most 
Franciscans  are  barefoot,  but  not  all  are  Descalzos.  So, 
too,  friars  living  in  the  old  Domus  Recolledionis  of  the 
Regular  Observance  were  Recollects  for  this  reason,  but 
must  never  be  confounded  with  the  regular  Recollects  of 
the  French  Reform.  The  Ultramontane  Observantins 
never  flourished  in  France,  and  were  joined  to  the  Con- 
ventuals by  Clement  XIV.  The  popular  Franciscans  of 
France  since  the  sixteenth  century  were  the  Recollects,  and 
though  he  does  not  tell  us  so,  '  Father  Lorenzo,'  the  Fran- 
ciscan whom  Yorick  met  at  Calais  and  immortalized,  was, 
without  doubt,  a  Recollect.  The  French  Reform  extended 
to  the  Spanish  Netherlands  and  Lower  Germany,  so  that 
in  these  countries,  too,  we  find  Recollects.  They  formed 
an  integral  part  of  the  French  family.  The  origin  of  the 
French  Recollects  is  difficult  to  disentangle,  but  the  moving 
spirit,  if  not  the  actual  founder  of  the  Reform,  was  Francois 
de  Simon,  a  French  Observantin  who  had  lived  among  the 
Italian  Riformati  and  the  Spanish  Descalzos,  and  on  his 
return  to  France  took  a  leading  part  in  the  institution  of 
the  Reform  (circa  1579). 

The  year  1897  is  another  annus  niirabilis  in  Franciscan 
history.  In  that  year  Pope  Leo  XIII.  by  his  Apostolic 
Constitution  Felicitate  Quadani  (another  Bulla  Unionis) 
joined  into  one  great  body  the  parent  stock,  that  is  to  say, 
the  Observantuis  and  the  three  branches  that  were  sepa- 
rated from  it  accidentaliter,  namely,  the  Riformati,  the 
Alcantarini  or  Discalced  Friars  of  Spain,  and  the  Recollects. 
The  distinction  between  Cismontane  and  Ultramontane  was 


See  this  point  luminously  proved  by  Fra  Casimoro  di  S.  M.  Maddalena, 
an  eighteenth  century  Scalzo  of  Naples,  in  La  Palestina  c  le  sn  Missioiii  of 
PP.  M  arcellino  da  Civezza  and  Teofilo  Domenichelli  (Florence,  1892, 
pp.  66-79). 


252  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


abolished,  and  with  it  the  Commissary-General  who  ruled 
in  that  family  from  which  the  Minister-General  for  the  time 
being  had  not  been  elected.  To  this  great  united  body  the 
Pope  has  given  the  primitive  style  and  title  of  the  Friars 
Minor,  and  their  head  he  calls,  like  Leo  X.  before  him,  the 
Minister-General  of  the  Order  of  Friars  Minor.  They  have 
but  one  body  of  Constitutions  they  wear  the  same  habit 
each  having  sacrificed  some  peculiarity  of  that  hitherto 
worn  by  them  ;  their  Provinces  have  been  fused,  so  that 
where  before  two  Provinces,  say  Observantin  and  Riformato, 
existed  side  by  side  in  the  same  territory,  there  is  now  only 
one  Province  ;  nay,  in  Italy  at  least,  there  has  been  a  fusion 
in  the  very  houses,  so  that  one  now  finds  a  convent  com- 
posed half  of  ex-Observantins  and  half  of  ex-Riformati. 
Speaking  generally,  the  Observantins  have  been  slightly 
levelled  up ;  the  Riformati,  Alcantarini,  and  Recollects 
slightly  levelled  down.  Though  uniformity  is  now  re- 
stored to  normal  Franciscan  life,  yet  Leo  XIIL  insists 
strongly  in  the  Btilla  Unionis  upon  the  necessity  of  also 
having  convents  of  a  stricter  observance  for  those  '  altioris 
perfectionis  vitaeque  contemplativae  cupidioribus,'  and  the 
new  Constitutions  (art.  8)  provide  for  one  or  two  Retreats 
{Conventus  sacri  Recessus)  in  every  Province.  The  union 
presented  such  thorny  impossibilities,  such  seemingly  in- 
surmountable difficulties,  that  its  accomplishment  must 
be  regarded  as  one  of  the  triumphs  of  the  pontificate  of 
Leo  XIIL 

There  are  now,  therefore,  only  three  Franciscan 
families  in  existence  :  the  Friars  Minor  Conventuals,  the 
Friars  Minor  Capuchin,  and  the  Friars  Minor.  All  three 
are  lawfuU}'  sons  of  St.  Francis.  The  Conventuals  observe 
the  Rule  with  various  dispensations,  lawfully  accorded  ; 
the  Minors  and  Capuchins  observe  the  Rule  pure  and 
simple,  differing  only  accident aliter  in  their  particular  Con- 
stitutions. Each  of  the  three  families  has  its  own  Minister- 
General,  and  is  totally  separate  and  distinct  the  one  from 
the  other.    The  Minister-General  of  the  Minors  must  be 


"  Regula  et  Constitutiones  Gcnerales  Fratriim  Minorum,  Quaracchi,  1899. 


THE  FRANCISCAN  FAMILIES 


253 


regarded  as  primus,  not  inter  pares  I  think,  for  Apostolic 
authority  has  recognised  in  his  family  alone  the  name  which 
was  given  to  it  by  its  founder  ;  to  the  Capuchin  Minister- 
General  must  be  accorded  the  second  place  because  his 
family  observes  the  whole  of  the  founder's  Rule  ;  and  to 
the  Conventual  Minister-General  the  third  place  because 
his  family  has  accepted  of  dispensations  from  the  substance 
of  the  Rule.  But  there  is  a  sense  in  which  the  three  families 
may  be  considered  as  but  one.  St.  Francis,  by  Chapter 
VIII.  of  the  Rule,  gives  to  his  fraternity  a  General  Minister 
and  servant  whom  his  friars  are  to  obey,  but  in  Chapter  I. 
of  the  Rule  he  choses  as  the  controlling  force  or  real  head 
of  his  Order  the  Pope  and  his  successors. The  Minister- 
General  is,  therefore,  but  the  Vicar-General  of  the  real  head 
of  the  Order,  the  Pope,  and  if  it  please  the  head  of  the 
Order  to  have  three  Vicars-General  instead  of  one,  who  can 
say  him  nay.  Thus,  the  division  numerice  disappears,  and 
the  whole  of  the  Franciscan  families  become  one  in  the 
spirit  of  St.  Francis.  It  is  not,  perhaps,  to  consider  it  too 
curiously  to  consider  it  in  this  way  :  the  Conventuals  re- 
present the  religious  life  of  St.  Francis  after  his  first  con- 
version before  he  had  conceived  of  a  religious  state  above 
the  monastic  or  eremitical  life  of  his  own  day  ;  the  Minors 
represent  his  own  Minoritic  life  on  earth  ;  and  the  Capu- 
chins represent  his  risen  life.  For  Francis  of  Assisi  is  not 
dead  but  liveth,  and  in  his  risen  life  not  content  with  the 
strict  observance  of  his  Rule,  but  desiring  a  yet  stricter 
[strictioris  observantiae),  he  has  at  times  so  reformed  and 
revivified  portions  of  his  Order,  that  they  have  even  sur- 
passed the  first  friars  in  all  the  glories  and  virtues  of  the 
Apostolic  life,  and  may  fairly  claim  to  rank  as  new  founda- 
tions of  their  ever-living  founder.  But  whether  one  or 
three,  whether  united  substaniialiter  or  separated  in  them- 


'  Prater  Francisctis  promittit  obedientiam  et  reverentiam  domino 
papae  Honorio,  ac  successoribus  ejus  canonice  intrantibus,  et  Ecclesiae 
Romanae.'  Arxi  see  Chapter  XII.  of  the  Rule,  where  the  Cardinal  Protector 
is  even  styled  the  'Governor'  of  the  Order:  'Ad  haec  per  obedientiam 
injungo  Ministris,  ut  petant  a  Domino  Papa  unam  de  sanctae  Romanae 
Ecclesiae  Cardinalibus,  qui  sit  gitbcrnator,  protector  et  corrector  istius 
Fraternitatis.' 


254  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


selves  numerice,  concerns  us  but  little  :  the  matter  of  real 
moment  is  that  there  are  still  sons  of  St.  Francis  dwelling 
upon  this  dull  earth,  and  that  they  excel  most  mortal  things 
in  the  quality  of  mere  human  interest.  They  are  a  living 
Lcgenda  Antiqua  in  which  you  may  read  voluminously 
of  the  past  at  leisure  and  in  good  company,  and  I  would  say  : 
try  this  reading  of  history  backwards  from  them  to  their 
wonderful  first  origin,  and  see  if  that  first  origin  do  not 
suddenly  become  illumined  with  new  and  altogether  un- 
expected lustre  and  significance.  This  is  at  least  the  lesson 
that  I  seem  to  have  learned  by  consorting  with  the  living 
sons  of  Francis,  and  not  merely  poring  over  the  records  of 
Minoritic  generations  that  are  dead  and  gone.^* 

,     Montgomery  Carmichael. 


1^  To  verify  the  facts  of  this  article  see,  amongst  other  authorities,  the 
Bullarium  Romamm  ;  Wadding,  Annalcs  Minorum ;  De  Gubernatis,  Orbis 
Scraphiciis  ;  Chronologia  Histovico-Legalis  Seraphici  Ordhtis ;  Van  den  Haute, 
Brcvis  Hiatoria  Ord.  Minorum  ;  Sfcoli  Sirnfci ;  Palomes,  Dei  Fratri  Minori  ; 
Novissima  pro  Cismontana  Minorum  Familia  Getieralium  Constitutionum  Col- 
lectio  (Rome,  1827)  ;  Rcgula  et  Constitutiones  Gencralcs  Fratrum  Miiiorum 
(Quaracchi,  1899). 


[   255  ] 


Botes  anb  (Sluenes 

THEOLOGY 

A  MATBIMONIAL  CASE  :  WHEN  IS  A  DOMIOIIiE  GAINED 

AND  LOST  P 

Rev.  Dear  Sir, — A  solution  of  the  following  case  in  the  next 
number  of  the  I.  E.  Record  would  much  oblige  : — 

A  domestic  servant  was  employed  in  this  parish,  and  had  been 
residing  here  for  about  four  years.  A  marriage  was  arranged 
between  her  and  a  man  who  had  a  fixed  residence  in  this  parish. 
About  a  fortnight  previous  to  her  marriage,  and  in  view  of 
marriage,  she  left  her  service  and  went  to  live  with  her  married 
sister,  who  resided  in  a  neighbouring  parish.  The  latter' s  resi- 
dence had  been  formerly  the  parental  domicile,  but  both  parents 
are  long  since  dead.  After  the  marriage  she  returned  to  live 
with  her  husband  in  this  parish. 

Quaeritur  : — 

1°.  Who  had  the  right  to  assist  at  the  marriage  ? 

2°.  Could  she  be  said  to  have  still  retained  her  parental 
domicile  in  the  neighbouring  parish  ? 

3°.  Did  she  forfeit  her  quasi- domicile  by  leaving  this  parish 
before  marriage  ? 

'  •  '  ViCARIUS. 

We  will  reply  to  these  questions  in  a  different  order 
from  that  of  our  correspondent. 

(i.)  Did  the  girl  forfeit  her  quasi-domicile  by  leaving 
the  parish  of  her  master  before  marriage  ?  {a)  It  seems 
that  this  girl  had  a  domicile  rather  than  a  quasi-domicile 
in  the  parish  of  her  master.  She  had  at  the  same  time  the 
two  conditions  required  for  a  domicile,  viz.,  actual  habita- 
tion and  the  intention  of  living  permanently  in  the  parish. 
She  had  actual  habitation  in  her  master's  home.  She  had 
also  the  intention  of  remaining  permanently  in  the  parish 
from  the  moment,  before  her  departure,  when  she  made  up 
her  mind  to  marry  into  the  parish.  The  fact  that  the  actual 


256 


THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


habitation  had  been  begun  as  a  quasi-domicile  does  not 
mihtate  aganist  this  view,  because  even  though  the  habita- 
tion had  been  begun  as  a  temporary  home,  still  the  subse- 
quent change  of  intention  was  quite  valid.  This  is  the 
opinion  of  Feije  : — 

Cessat  haec  praesumptio  (domicilium  adfuisse),  quando 
constat  aliquem  coepisse  commorari  in  loco  ob  causam  acci- 
dentalem  temporaneam,  qua  cessante  discessurus  videbatur 
.  .  .  Verumtamen  ut  is  qui  habet  domicilium  in  loco,  illud  non 
omittit  si  superveniat  officium  ejusmodi  seu  conditio  (tem- 
poranea),  ita  etiam,  non  obstante  commorationis  propter  acci- 
dentalem  hanc  circumstantiam  initio,  verum  domicilium  con- 
tractum  censebitur,  si,  cessante  praefata  conditione  seu  officio, 
eo  modo  quis  pergat  in  loco  habitare,  qui  ex  circumstantiis 
prudenter  dici  debeat  probare  animum  manendi  perpetuo ; 
immo  jam  ante,  si  verbis  vel  factis  certus  fiat  animus  perpetuo 
manendi.^ 

Hence,  we  consider  it  certain  that  this  girl  had  a  domicile 
in  the  parish  of  her  master. 

(&)  She  did  not  lose  this  domicile  when  she  left  her 
master's  house.  A  domicile,  like  a  quasi-domicile,  is  not 
attached  to  a  particular  house  in  a  parish.  Hence 
her  departure  from  her  master's  home  did  not  deprive 
her  of  her  domicile.  Neither  did  her  temporary  departure 
from  the  parish  deprive  her  of  her  already  acquired  domi- 
cile. As  long  as  she  retained  the  intention  of  returning  to 
live  in  the  parish  as  an  inhabitant  so  long  did  her  domicile 
remain.  Feije  says  : — '  Porro  ad  amittendum  domicilium 
non  sufficit  actualis  discessus,  nec  diuturna  absentia  ;  sed 
sive  verbis  sive  factis  debet  constare  de  animo  valedicendi 
domicilio,  et  quamdiu  de  eo  non  constat,  illud  conservatur.'^ 

(2.)  Did  the  girl  retain  her  parental  domicile  ?  Our 
correspondent  does  not  supply  sufficient  data  to  give  a 
definite  reply  to  this  question.  This  will  be  clear,  we  think, 
from  the  following  considerations.  A  parental  domicile  is 
lost  only  by  formal  or  virtual  renunciation.  On  the  one 
hand,  the  death  of  parents,  long  absence,  or  the  marriage 
of  the  sister  who  lived  in  the  old  home,  did  not  necessarily 


^  Feije,  De  Imp.  ct  Disp.  Maty.,  p.  129.  The  italics  are  ours. 
*  Feije,  loc.  cit.,  p.  130. 


NOTES  AND  QUERIES 


257 


imply  such  renunciation.  Notwithstanding  all  these,  the 
girl  could  have  retained  an  intention  of  returning,  after 
years  of  service  or  during  intervals  of  service,  to  live  in  the 
parental  home  as  a  member  of  the  family,  Such  intention 
would  suffice  to  retain  the  parental  domicile.  The  acquisi- 
tion of  a  domicile  elsewhere  did  not  imply  such  renunciation, 
because  that  acquisition  did  not  remove  at  least  a  conditional 
intention  of  returning  to  the  parental  domicile  if,  perchance, 
the  marriage  were  postponed  or  altogether  abandoned. 
Such  conditional  intention  suffices  for  the  retention  of  a 
domicile.  Hence  on  the  one  hand  there  is  no  sufficient 
proof  supplied  that  the  girl  lost  her  parental  domicile. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  fact  that  the  girl  returned  to  her 
sister's  home  before  her  marriage  does  not  clearly  prove 
that  she  returned  there  as  to  a  parental  domicile.  She 
could  have  returned  as  a  guest,  if  she  had  lost  her 
parental  domicile.  We  think,  then,  that  sufficient  data 
have  not  been  given  for  a  definite  reply.  At  most,  we  can 
say  that  there  is  a  presumption  in  favour  of  the  retention 
of  the  parental  domicile,  because  it  is  presumed  to  remain 
till  it  be  proved  to  be  lost.  Presumption,  however,  must 
yield  to  fact.  Hence,  we  would  advise  our  correspondent 
to  find  out  from  an  investigation  of  the  circumstances  of 
the  particular  family  whether  the  girl  came  as  a  guest,  or 
as  a  member  of  the  family.  If  the  latter,  she  had  her 
parental  domicile.  If  the  former,  the  parental  domicile  did 
not  remain. 

(3.)  Who  had  a  right  to  assist  at  the  marriage  ?  (a) 
The  parish  priest  of  the  sponsus  could  certainly  validly 
assist  at  the  marriage.  He  had  also  a  right  to  assist,  because 
the  sponsa  had  a  domicile  in  his  parish,  (b)  If,  from  inves- 
tigation, it  be  found  that  the  girl  retained  her  parental 
domicile  the  parish  priest  of  the  parental  parish  had  also 
a  right  to  assist  at  the  marriage. 

VALIDITY  OF  PIOtTS  BEQtTESTS 

Rev.  Dear  Sir, — A  large  sum  of  money  is  left  by  a  parishi- 
oner of  mine  for  religious  and  charitable  purposes.  There  is, 
however,  an  informality  in  the  will  which  makes  the  whole 

VOL.  XV.  R 


258  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


instrument  invalid  in  tlie  eyes  of  the  civil  law.  Does  the  bequest 
hold  good  in  conscience  ?  What  are  the  obligations  of  the  next- 
of-kin  ?  What  are  the  obligations  of  a  confessor  who  is  informed 
of  the  circumstances,  but  finds  the  penitent  unwilling  to  part 
with  the  legacy  ?     I  am,  Rev.  and  dear  Sir, 

Your  faithful  servant, 
■  •  Rector. 

In  the  case  mentioned  by  our  correspondent  there  can, 
w^e  presume,  be  no  doubt  about  the  deliberate  wish  of  the 
testator.  The  question  for  discussion,  then,  refers  to  the 
validity  in  conscience  of  such  last  will  if  it  be  invalid  in 
the  eyes  of  the  civil  law  merely  because  of  the  absence  of 
a  legal  formality.  This  question  has  been  discussed  by 
theologians  and  canonists  at  great  length.  All  theologians 
and  canonists  agree  that  if  there  be  question  of  a  legacy  left 
for  pious  objects  ad  sedandam  conscientiam,  v.g.,  as  restitu- 
tion, the  . will  is  valid  in  conscience.  This  has  been  decided 
by  a  decree  of  the  S.  Penitentiary,  dated  23rd  June,  1844. 
All  theologians  and  canonists  agree  also  that  other  pious 
legacies  in  the  Papal  States  are  valid  in  conscience,  because 
the  valid  law  of  these  States  is  the  law  of  the  Church. 
That  law  has  expressly  declared  the  validity  of  such  legacies 
in  the  Papal  States. 

There  has  been  some  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the 
validity  in  conscience  of  such  bequests  outside  the  Papal 
States.     Nearly  all  theologians  and  canonists  held  that 
these  legacies  are  certainly  valid.    They  held  this  view 
because  the  State  has  no  jurisdiction  in  religious  affairs, 
and  consequently  cannot  invalidate  a  pious  bequest  which 
is  certainly  a  religious  matter.    Hence,  per  se,  such  a  bequest 
is  valid  in  conscience.    Moreover,  the  next-of-kin  cannot 
presume  on  the  consent  of  the  Church,  because  mere  silence 
on  the  part  of  the  Church  cannot  be  taken  as  signifying 
the  permission  to  devote  to  other  objects  the  goods  left 
by  will  for  pious  purposes.     Such  silence,  if  it  did  exist, 
can  be  explained  on  the  supposition  that  the  Church 
was  practically  powerless  to  interfere  with  the  usurpa- 
tion of  the  State.    Hence,  it  has  been  generally  held  by 


NOTES  AND  QUERIES 


259 


theologians  and  canonists  that  such  bequests  are  valid  not 
only  speculatively,  but  also  in  practice.^ 

There  were  a  few  theologians,  such  as  Carriere,^  who, 
on  Gallican  principles,  claimed  for  the  State  the  power  of 
interfering  in  such  spiritual  matters.  D'Annibale^  lends, 
at  least  negatively,  the  assistance  of  his  great  authority  to 
this  opinion.  He  says  : — '  Quamdiu  igitur  S.  Sedes  loquuta 
non  fuerit,  existimo,  non  oportere  inquietari  eos  qui,  extra 
Ditionem  Pontificiam,  non  praestant  relicta  ad  causas  pias 
in  testamento  irrito  ex  jure  civili.' 

We  believe  that  speculatively  and  practically  the  common 
opinion  of  canonists  and  theologians  is  now  certain,  {a) 
The  intrinsic  reasons  mentioned  above  in  favour  of  the 
common  view  seem  to  us  to  be  convincing,  (h)  The  extrinsic 
authority  of  theologians  and  canonists  is  so  strongly  in  favour 
of  this  opinion  that  we  hesitate  to  allow  any  solid  proba- 
bility to  the  view  of  Carriere  or  D'Annibale.     (c)  Whatever 
be  said  about   former  times,  at  present  the  opinion  of 
I  Carriere,  or  even  of  D'Annibale,  cannot  be  sustained  in 
!  face  of  the  decision  of  the  Sacred  Congregation  of  the 
1  Propaganda,  dated  30th  April,  1895,  in  reply  to  a  question 
|!  of  His  Eminence  Cardinal  Logue.*    His  Eminence  asked 
I'  about  the    validity  in  conscience  of  a   will  leaving  an 
I  annual  sum  of  money  in  perpetuum,  for  Masses  to  be  said 
j  in  a  church  which  was  named.    This  will  was  invalid  accord- 
f  ing  to  English  law  which  recognises   only  a  temporary 
I  foundation.    The  S.  Congregation  replied  that  the  will  was 
]  valid  in  conscience,  and,  moreover,  laid  down  the  principle 
j  of  its  decision  :  '  Jam  vero  cerium  est  .  .  .  legatum  perdu- 
rare,  qtium  lex  civilis  non  possit  ea  quae  sunt  ad  causas  pias 
jl  sua  auctoritatc  statuere  ;  ac  proinde  legatum  haeredes  obligat 
j  juxta  tenorem  et   modum   ipsius   legati.''     Although  this 
decision    was   given   in   a   particular   case   the  general 
principle,  which  it  lays  down,  applies  to  all  cases  of  pious 
bequests.    Hence  we  think  it  practically  certain  that  such 

I         '■See  S.  .\lp.,  Tluologia  Moralis,  lib.  iii.,  n.  923  ;  Lehmkuhl,  Theologia 
Uoralis,  ii.,  n.  522  ;  Ballerini,  Opus  Theologicum,  t.  iii.,  p.  839. 
'  Dc  Contractibus,  n.  219. 
3  Snmmida,  ii.,  n.  340. 

*  I.  E.  Record,  Nov.,  1895,  p.  1048.    The  italics  are  ours. 


26o  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


bequests  are  valid  in  conscience,  notwithstanding  the  absence 
of  a  formahty  required  by  civil  law. 

To  the  questions  asked  by  our  correspondent  we  are 
now  able  to  give  a  reply,  (i)  The  will  is  valid  in  conscience. 
(2)  The  next-of-kin  are  bound  in  conscience  to  give  the 
property  to  the  pious  objects  for  which  they  were  destined 
by  the  testator.  (3)  Confessors  are  not  free  to  absolve  mala 
fide  retainers  of  such  property.  If  the  heirs-at-law  be  bona 
fide  a  confessor  must  judge  from  the  particular  case  whether 
it  be  best  for  him  to  make  known  the  obligation,  to  merely 
counsel  a  renunciation  of  the  goods,  or  to  remain  silent.  As 
Lehmkuhl  says'' :  '  Nihilominus  confessarii  est  videre  utrum 
haec  monitio  in  singulari  casu  jussione  an  suasione  urgeri 
debeat,  imo  an  silentio  premi ;  scilic.  sine  spe  fructus  non 
debet  et  poenitentem  in  malam  fidem  conjicere  et  causis 
piis  nihil  prodesse.' 

J.  M.  Harty. 


LITURGY 

BITE  OF  INTERMENT  IN  PARTICULAB  CASES 

Rev.  Dear  Sir, — The  Ritual  De  Exequiis  makes  provision 
for  the  case  in  which  the  funeral  comes  to  the  chruch  and  thence 
proceeds  to  the  cemetery.  Now,  in  very  many  cases  this  would 
be  altogether  impracticable,  and  in  such  cases  it  is  not  at  all  so 
clear  in  what  the  funeral  service  should  consist  ;  nor  is  there  any- 
thing even  approaching  uniformity  in  practice.  Your  opinion, 
therefore,  regarding  the  subjoined  cases  would  be  highly  valued, 

1.  When  the  priest  attends  the  funeral  at  the  house  of 
deceased  ;  custom  and  other  reasons  being  against  his  going  to 
the  cemetery.  ■  ' 

2.  When  the  priest  meets  the  funeral  at  a  cemetery  distant 
from  a  church. 

3.  In  cemeteries  in  which  stand  some  remains  of  an  old 
church  the  coffin  is  brought  inside  the  latter,  and  the  service 
begins  with  Non  urbis  in  pedicuum,  as  in  an  ordinary  church. 

4.  Though  there  seems  to  be  no  authority  for  it  in  any  Ritual 


s  Theologia  Moralis,  i.,  n.  1148,  nota  i. 


NOTES  AND  QUERIES 


261 


I  have  seen,  there  exists  the  custom  in  this  and  neighbouring 
dioceses  (and,  perhaps,  it  is  general  in  Ireland) ;  the  custom,  viz., 
of  the  priest,  at  the  end  of  the  Exequial  service  of  the  Ritual, 
taking  a  shovel  and  putting  a  little  mould  three  times  on  the 
coffin  in  the  grave,  saying  each  time,  Memento  homo,  etc. 

SOGGARTH. 

This  query  raises  points  of  importance  as  well  as  of 
interest.  Every  detail  prescribed  by  the  Liturgy  in  connec- 
tion with  the  burial  service  deserves  closest  attention,  and 
should  be  fulfilled  with  all  the  completeness  that  is  possible. 
Nothing  can  better  convince  us  of  the  tender  solicitude  of 
the  Church  for  the  exact  performance  of  our  duties  towards 
her  dying  and  deceased  members  than  a  thoughtful  perusal 
of  that  portion  of  her  Liturgy  in  which  she  lays  down,  with 
much  detail,  how  we  are  to  succour  the  departing,  what 
reverence  we  are  to  bestow  on  the  dead  body,  and  what 
prayers  and  suffrages  we  are  to  speedily  offer  up  for  the 
welfare  of  the  soul.  It  would,  then,  be  a  cruel  frustration 
of  these  loving  designs  of  our  kind  Mother,  if  we  did  not 
try,  as  well  as  we  can,  and  as  far  as  circumstances  reason- 
ably permit,  to  discharge  these  very  important  obligations. 

In  the  case  of  a  death  we  think  the  practice  of  having 
the  remains  transferred  to  the  church  for  Mass  next  morning 
is  much  to  be  desired.  Of  course  we  know  it  is  not  always 
feasible.  But,  where  at  all  possible,  it  ought  to  be  donC) 
and  it  will  be  the  means  of  putting  a  stop  to  ever  so  many 
abuses,  especially  in  the  case  of  the  poor.  Then  the  people 
should  be  induced  to  have  the  interment  take  place  early 
in  the  morning.  This  would  mean  the  saving  of  much  time 
to  those  attending  the  funeral.  They  would  thus  be  able 
to  return  home  seasonably  and  to  do  a  substantial  day's 
work,  instead  of  diverting,  after  a  late  interment,  to  places 
of  questionable  advantage. 

As  to  our  correspondent's  questions  : — 

I.  Mass  is  said  at  the  house  of  the  deceased,  and 
the  priest  cannot  escort  the  funeral  procession  to  the 
graveside.    Here  the  Ritual  ^  clearly  insinuates  that  the 


*  Ordo  Exequioruvi,  cap.  iii.  n.  14. 


262 


THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


entire  '  officium  '  should  be  performed  where  Mass  has  been 
celebrated.  That  is,  after  Mass  the  Absolution  should  imme- 
diately follow,  and  all  the  other  prayers  in  the  Ritual  should 
be  said  to  the  end.  The  Deus  cujus  miseratione  may  be 
omitted  if  the  sepulchre  is  situated  in  consecrated  ground, 
unless  vmblessed  material  is  introduced,  or  the  grave  be  in  a 
Church. 

2.  We  are  not  told  if  there  has  been  Mass,  and  if  the 
Absolution  consequently  has  been  given.  In  case  Mass  and 
the  Absolution  have  not  taken  place  then  the  priest  on 
entering  the  cemetery  intones  the  In  paradisum,  recites  the 
Miserere,  De  profandis,  etc.,  during  the  progress  to  the 
graveside  ;  then  on  the  remains  being  deposited  near  the 
grave  he  should  begin  the  Non  intres,  and  recite  everything 
in  the  Ritual  with  the  exception  of  the  In  paradisum,  and 
the  prayer  for  the  blessing  of  the  grave,  if  this  is  already 
blessed.  If  there  has  been  Mass,  and  if  the  Absolution  has 
been  already  given,  then  the  priest  should  act  as  already 
described  in  escorting  the  remains  to  the  graveside.  Here 
the  Absolution  is  not  given,  but  all  the  rest  will  be 
the  same.  The  portion  of  the  service  from  the  Ant.  of  the 
Benedictus  to  the  end  may  be  repeated  even  if  already  said." 

3.  Where  there  is  a  church  in  connection  with  a  burial- 
ground  the  remains  may  be  taken  there  for  the  Absolution, 
which  begins  with  the  Non  intres,  and  concludes  with  the 
Deus  cui  propri'um.  Afterwards  they  are  transferred  to  the 
prepared  grave,  the  Ant.  In  paradisum  being  recited,  and 
the  rest  of  the  service  will  be  performed  in  the  way  already 
mentioned.  The  same  applies  to  an  old  ruin,  as  to  an 
ordinary  church.  A  priest  assisting  at  the  burial  service 
should,  if  possible,  wear  some  sacred  vestment.  It  would, 
indeed,  be  desirable  if  he  were  vested  in  soutane  and  sur- 
plice on  entering  tlie  cemetery,  but  he  ought  always  wear 
the  stole  at  the  very  least.  Of  course  incense  cannot  always 
be  had  conveniently  on  these  occasions,  but  Holy  Water 
can,  and  should  never  be  absent.  There  is  nothing  in  the 
Rubrics  about  the  custom  of  asking  the  prayers  of  those 


*  De  Herdt,  Praxis  Lit.  Brit.  Rom.,  p.  153. 


NOTES  AND  QUERIES 


263 


present  for  the  repose  of  the  soul  of  the  deceased.  But 
the  practice  is  quite  lawful  if  it  be  done  at  the  end  of  the 
service. 

4.  As  to  the  custom  of  the  priest  throwing  some  shovel- 
fuls of  clay  on  the  coffin,  saying  meantime  Memento  homo, 
etc.,  it  is  not  mentioned  in  the  Ritual,  but  it  may  be  held  to 
be  one  of  those  reasonable  practices  that  are  juxta  rather 
than  contra  Rubricas.  Baruffaldus^  mentions  this  custom 
apparently  with  approval  among  some  others  which  are 
found  in  the  Sacerdotale  Brisciense,  and  Wapelhorst,^  quoting 
Falise,  says  that  it  may  be  followed  since  '  iste  enim  ritus 
teste  Catalano,  antiquissimus  est.' 

This  would  be  the  time  to  ask  those  present  to  offer 
some  prayers  for  the  deceased. 

There  are  a  great  many  curious  customs  in  connection 
with  funerals.  For  instance,  in  some  places  it  is  usual 
to  make  a  complete  circuit  of  the  cemetery  before  taking 
the  coffin  to  the  grave.  This  is  not  in  accordance 
with  the  Ritual  which  prescribes  the  Via  brevior.  Again, 
the  remains  in  some  graveyards  are  brought  to  a  certain 
spot  and  rested  there  for  an  appreciable  time.  This 
spot  probably  marks  the  site  of  an  old  church,  or, 
possibly,  the  resting-place  of  some  priest,  or  person  of 
reputed  sanctity.  With  regard  to  all  these  customs  which 
are  not  clearly  opposed  to  the  Ritual,  Baruffaldus  has  a 
very  wise  observation  :  '  Ritus  a  rituali  pro  exequiis  pre- 
script! servandi  sunt  salva  semper  aliquorum  locorum 
consuetudine  quae  in  materia  funerum  multum  operatur.'*^ 

P.  MORRISROE. 


2  Rit.  Rom.  Com.,  Tit.  36,  n,  172. 
*  Camp endiiim  Sac.  Lit.,  p.  472,  note  6. 
^  Tit.  1)6,  n.  I, 


[   264  ] 


CORRESPONDENCE 

'  ALTAR-STONES  WITHOTTT  RELICS  ' 

Rev.  Dear  Sir,— I  read  your  remarks  relative  to  the  use 
of  altar-stones  without  relics,  in  the  last  issue  of  the  I.  E.  Record, 
with  much  interest.  I  trust  they  will  serve  to  direct  and  fix 
the  attention  of  the  clergy  on  the  necessity  of  procuring  altar- 
stones  WITH  relics,  and  awaken  them  to  the  serious  responsi- 
bility they  incur  if  they  are  any  longer  oblivious  of  this  obvious 
duty. 

In  one  observation,  however,  I  fear  you  are  too  sanguine 
and  confident,  namely,  when  you  take  for  granted  the  facility 
there  is  nowadays  of  procuring  altar-stones  with  relics.  My 
experience  of  thirty  years  speaks  the  contrary.  In  the  many 
missions  I  have  been  in,  as  curate,  I  found  the  altar-stones 
generally  without  relics  ;  and  when  permitted  to  rectify  the 
error  I  had  great  trouble  is  discovering  and  considerable  expense 
in  negotiating  for  ones  with  relics  instead.  This  occurred  in 
instances  after  the  Bishop  of  the  diocese  warned  his  priests  at 
Conference  to  procure  them,  adding  plainly  that  no  parish  should 
be  without  them,  as  he  was  about  to  consecrate  a  large  number, 
each  of  which  would  cost  but  the  hire  of  the  mason  who  chiselled 
them,  i.e.,  some  4s.  or  5s. 

Notwithstanding  all,  the  same  difficulty  presented  itself  to 
me  on  subsequent  missions  as  curate.  And  as  my  plan  in  that 
capacity  alv/ays  was,  qmeta  non  morere,  except  where  I  saw  the 
feasibility,  I  made  no  effective  move  further. 

Even  at  present,  as  pastor,  I  am  sadly  in  need  of  altar-stones 
with  relics,  and  I  have  applied  to  convents  and  monasteries  and 
other  places  where  I  thought  they  were  obtainable,  but  all  to 
no  effect,  though  I  offered  to  give  los.  or  for  each.  I  am  in 
the  same  wistful  state  of  mind  still,  and  I  think  I  can  say  the 
same  for  many  pastors  of  my  acquaintance. 

If  you  would  be  so  good  as  to  have  this  letter  inserted  in  the 
I.  E.  Record,  it  may  catch  the  eye  of  some  one  in  a  position  to 
supply  the  want,  or  at  least  to  give  some  information  on  the 
matter,  and  thus  meet  a  rubrical  requirement  long  neglected, 
and  the  cause  of  much  annoyance  to  many  priests. 

A  Subscriber. 

[We  hope  to  give  our  correspondent  the  information  he 
requires  in  our  next  issue. — Ed.  I.  E.  Record.] 


[    265  ] 


DOCUMENTS 

THE  JUBILEE  OF  THE  IMMACULATE  CONCEPTION 

CONCEDUNTUR    INDUL.    OCCASIONE    SOLLEMNIUM  QUINQUA- 
GENARIORUM  A  DOGM.  DEFINIT.  B.  M.  V.  IMM.  CONC. 

PIUS  pp.  X. 

Universis  Christifidelibus  praesentes  litteras  inspecturis  salu- 
tem  et  Apostolicam  benedictionem.  Quae  Catholico  nomini 
aetemaeque  fidelium  saluti  bene,  prospere,  feliciterque  eveniant 
ea  ex  supremi  Apostolatus  officio  quo  fungimur  divinitus,  qua- 
cumque  ope  possumus,  procuramus  et  spiritualium  munerum 
largitione  favemus.  lam  vero  cum,  proximo  anno,  quinquage- 
simus  recurrat  anniversarius  dies  ex  quo  toto  Catholico  orbe 
plaudente  fel.  rec.  Pius  PP.  IX.  Praedecessor  Noster,  solemni 
decreto  Virginem  Deiparam  sine  labe  originali  Conceptam 
declaravit,  atque  ad  auspicatissimi  eventus  memoriam  recolen- 
dam  plurimis  in  templis  ac  sacellis  die  octava  cuiusque  mensis 
per  solidum  annum,  a  die  octava  vertentis  Decembris  ad  octavam 
pariter  diem  Decembris  mensis  proximi  anni  MDCCCCIV  vel 
Dominica  immediate  respective  sequenti,  peculiares  habendae 
sint  supplicationes  ;  Nos,  quibus  nihil  antiquius  quam  ut  fidelium 
pietas  erga  immunem  ab  omni  macula  Virginem  magis  magisque 
in  dies  excitetur,  coelestes  idcirco  Ecclesiae  thesauros,  quorum 
Nobis  dispensationem  Altissimus  commisit,  benigne  in  Domino 
reserare  censuimus.  Quae  cum  ita  sint,  de  Omnipotentis  Dei 
misericordia  at  BB.  Petri  et  Pauli  Apostolorum  eius  auctoritate 
confisi,  omnibus  ac  singulis  fidelibus  ex  utroque  sexu,  qui  in 
qualibet  ex  Ecclesiis  sive  sacellis  ubique  terrarum  existentibus, 
in  quibus  de  respectivi  Ordinarii  licentia  menstrua  in  honorem 
Immaculatae  Virginis  supplicatio  rite  fiat,  eidem,  contrito 
saltem  corde,  adsint,  in  forma  Ecclesiae  solita  de  poenalium 
numero  septem  annos  totidemque  quadragenas  ;  quoties  vero 
diebus  quibus  mensilis  haec  pia  exercitatio  locum  habet  Ecclesias 
seu  oratoria  supramemorata  contrito  similiter  corde  visitent, 
toties  iis  in  forma  pariter  Ecclesiae  consueta  trecentos  dies  de 
numero  poenalium  expungimus.  Insuper  eisdem  ex  utroque 
sexu  fidelibus,  qui  saltem  ter  intra  anni  curriculum  dictis  suppli- 


266 


THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


cationibus  aderunt,  atque  admissoram  confessione  expiati  et 
coelestibus  epulis  refecti  pro  Christianorum  Principum  concordia 
haeresum  extirpatione,  peccatorum  conversione,  ac  S.  Matris 
Ecclesiae  exaltatione  pias  ad  Deum  preces  effundant,  semel 
tantum  per  unumquemque  eorum  lucrandam,  plenariam  :  tantum 
iis  qui  intra  futuri  anni  MDCCCCIV  spatium  vel  turmatim  vel 
singillatim  peregre  ad  banc  Almam  Urbem  Nostram  accedant, 
dummodo  vera  quoque  poenitentes  et  confessi  ac  S.  Communione 
refecti  Vaticanam  et  Liberianam  Basilicas  devote  visitent  ibique, 
ut  supra,  pias  ad  Deum  preces  effundant,  etiam  Plenariam 
omnium  peccatorum  suorum  indulgentiam  et  remissionem 
misericorditer  in  Domino  concedimus.  Denique  largimur  fide- 
libus  iisdem,  si  malint,  liceat  plenariis  hisce  ac  partialibus 
indulgentiis  vita  functorum  labes  poenasque  expiare.  Non 
obstantibus  contrariis  quibuscumque.  Praesentibus  unice  tan- 
tum. Volumus  autem  ut  praesentium  litterarum  transumptis 
seu  exemplis,  etiam  impressis,  manu  alicuius  Notarii  publici 
subscriptis  et  sigillo  personae  in  ecclesiastica  dignitate  con- 
stitutae  praemunitis,  eadem  prorsus  adhibeatur  fides  quae 
adhiberetur  ipsis  praesentibus,  si  forent  exhibitae  vel  ostensae. 

Datum    Romae  apud  S.  Petrum  sub  anulo  Piscatoris  die 
VII  Decembris  MCMIII,  Pontificatus  Nostri  Anno  Primo. 
L.  .i-S. 

-       Alois.  Card.  Macchi. 

DECREE  ON  THE  RESTORATION  OF  SACRED  MUSIC 

URBIS  ET  ORBIS 

CIRCA    APPLICATIONEM    '  INSTRUCTIONIS  '    PII    PP.    X  QUOAD 
RESTAURATIONEM  MUSICAE  SACRAE 

Sanctissimus  Dominus  Noster  Pius  Papa  X  Moiu  propvio, 
die  22  Novembris  1903  sub  forma  InstrucUonis  de  musica  sacra 
venerabilem  Cantum  Gregorianum  iuxta  codicum  fidem  ad 
pristinum  Ecclesiarum  usum  feliciter  restituit,  simulque  prae- 
cipuas  praescriptiones,  ad  sacrorum  concentuum  sanctitatem 
et  dignitatem  in  templis  vel  promovendam  vel  restituendam, 
in  unum  corpus  coUegit,  cui  tamquam  Codici  iuridico  musicae 
sacrae  ex  plenitudine  Apostolicae  Suae  Potestatis  vim  legis  pro 
universa  Ecclesia  habere  voluit.  Quare  idem  Sanctissimus 
Doininus  Noster  per  banc  Sacrorum  Rituum  Congregationem 
mandat  et  praecipit,  ut  Instructio  praedicta  ab  omnibus  acci- 


DOCUMENTS 


267 


piatur  Ecclesiis  sanctissimeque  servetur,  non  obstantibus  pri- 
vilegiis  atque  exemptionibus  quibuscunque,  etiam  speciali 
nomine  dignis,  ut  sunt  privilegia  et  exemptiones  ab  Apostolica 
Sede  maioribus  Urbis  Basilicis,  praesertim  vero  Sacrosanctae 
Ecclesiae  Lateranensi  concessa.  Revocatis  pariter  sive  privilegiis 
sive  commendationibus,  quibus  aliae  quaecumque  cantus  litur- 
gici  recentiores  formae  pro  rerum  ac  temporum  circumstantiis 
ab  Apostolica  Sede  et  ab  hac  Sacra  Congregatione  inducebantur, 
eadem  Sanctitas  Sua  benigne  concedere  dignata  est,  ut  praedictae 
cantus  liturgici  recentiores  formae,  in  iis  Ecclesiis  ubi  iam 
invectae  sunt,  licite  retineri  et  cantari  queant,  donee  quam- 
primum  fieri  poterit  venerabilis  Cantus  Gregorianus  iuxta 
codicum  fidem  in  eorum  locum  sufficiatur.  Contrariis  non 
obstantibus  quibascunque. 

De  hisce  omnibus  Sanctissimus  Dominus  Noster  Pius  Papa 
X  liuic  Sacrorum  Rituum  Congregationi  praesens  Decretum 
expediri  iussit.    Die  8  lanuarii  1904. 

Seraphinus  Card.  Cretoni,  S.R.C.  Praef. 

L.  ^S. 

»i<  DiOMEDES  Panici,  Arch.  Laodicen.,  S.R.C.  Secret. 

[From  this  Decree  it  will  be  seen  that  the  instructions  of 
the  '  Motu  Proprio,'  published  in  our  last  issue,  must  be 
obeyed  and.  carried  out  as  soon  as  possible  {quamprimum 
fieri  poterit).  The  Graduals  and  Missals  containing  the 
new  authorised  chant  can  be  had  from  Desclee,  Lefebvre 
et  Cie,  of  Tournai,  Belgium.] 

OFFICE  AND  MASS  FOE  THE  FEAST  OF  ALL  THE  SAINTS  OF 
THE  SOCIETY  OF  JESUS 

SOCIETATIS  lESU 

APPROBATUR  OFFICIUM  CUM  MISSA  PROPRIA,  DE  FESTO  OMNIUM 
SANCTORUM  S.  J.  SUB  RITU  DUPLICI  2"  CLASSIS 

Impensa  totius  Societatis  lesu  vota  depromens,  Rmus.  Pater 
Ludovicus  Martin,  eidem  Societati  Praepositus  Generalis,  Sanc- 
tissimum  Dominum  Nostrum  Leonem  Papam  XIII,  humillimis 
precibus  rogavit,  ut  Festum  Omnium  Sanctorum  sub  ritu  duplici 
secundae  classis,  prouti  compluribus  Religiosis  Ordinibus  con- 
cessum  fuit,  amodo  a  Patribus  Alumnisque  ipsius  Societatis  in 
posterum  recoli  valeat :  atque  schema  respectivi  Officii  cum 


268  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


Missa  proprii  diligenter  exaratum,  supremae  Apostolicae  Sedis 
sanctioni  demississime  subiecit. 

Exhibitum  vero  huiusmodi  Officium  et  Missam  quum,  ad  iuris 
tramitem,  Emus,  et  Rmus.  Dnus.  Cardinalis  Andreas  Steinhuber, 
Relator,  in  ordinariis  Sacrorum  Rituum  comitiis,  subsignata  die 
ad  Vaticanum  habitis.  proposuerit ;  Emi  et  Rmi.  Patres  sacris 
tuendis  Ritibus  praepositi,  re  mature  perpensa,  auditoque 
R.  P.  D.  Alexandre  Verde,  S.  Fidei  Promotore,  rescribendum 
censuerunt  :  '  Pro  gratia  et  ad  Emum.  Ponentem  cum  Promotore 
Fidei.'    Die  21  Aprilis  1903. 

Quare,  propositi  Officii  et  Missae  ab  ipso  Emo.  Ponente  cum 
Promotore  Fidei  revisione  accuratissime  peracta,  bisque  omnibus 
Sanctissimo  Domino  Nostro  Leoni  Papae  XIII,  per  infrascrip- 
tum  Cardinalem  Sacrorum  Rituum  Congregation!  Praefectum 
relatis  ;  Sanctitas  Sua  sententiam  Sacri  ipsius  Consilii  ratam 
habens,  suprascriptum  Officium  cum  Missa  proprium  de  Festo 
Omnium  Sanctorum  Societatis  lesu,  enuntiata  Dominica  Novem- 
bris  ritu  duplici  secundae  classis  ab  universa  eadem  Societate  in 
posterum  quotannis  recolendo,  benigne  approbare  dignata  est  : 
servatis  Rubricis.  Contrariis  non  obstantibus  quibuscumque. 
Die  22,  iisdem  mense  et  anno. 

S.  Card.  Cretoni,  S.R.C.  Praef. 

L.  ii«S. 

«5<  D.  Panici,  Archiep.  Laodicen.,  Secrius. 

Officium  in  Festo  Omnium  Sanctorum  Societatis  Jesu 

AD  VESPERAS 

Ant.  I.  Omnis,  qui  invocaverit  Nomen  Domini,  salvus  erit 
Psalmi  ut  in  I.  Vesp.  de  com.  Apost. 

2.  Beati  qui  lavant  stolas  suas  in  sanguine  Agni,  ut  sit  po- 
testas  eorum  in  ligno  vitae. 

3.  Qui  ad  iustitiam  erudiunt  multos,  fulgebunt  quasi  stellae 
in  perpetuas  aeternitates. 

4.  Quam  speciosi  pedes  evangelizantium  pacem,  evangeli- 
zantium  bona. 

5.  Beati  pauperes  spiritu  ;  quoniam  ipsorum  est  regnum 
coelorum. 

Capitulum.  I.  Thess.  IV. 

Fratres,  rogamus  vos  et  obsecramus  in  Domino  Jesu,  ut 
quemadmodum  accepistis  a  nobis,  quomodo  oporteat  vos  ambu- 
lare  et  placere  Deo,  sic  et  ambuletis,  ut  abundetis  magis. 


DOCUMENTS 


269 


HYMNUS 

Jesu  dicata  Nomini, 

Cohors  beata  militum 
Victrix,  subactis  hostibus, 
Agit  triumphi  gloriam, 

Ignatius  cui  legifer 

Sanctique  ductor  agminis 
Praeest,  ovatque  in  omnibus 
Gessisse  bella  filiis. 

Hinc  purpurati  sanguine, 
Adstant  recincti  laureis  : 
Divina  quique  cordibus 
Christi  intu  erunt  munera,  ! 

Sunt  quos  coronat  liliis 

Intacta  morum  castitas  : 
Evexit  et  quos  sanctitas. 
Domesticis  virtutibus. 

Jesu  beantur  lumine, 

Jesum  salutant  canticis, 
Jesuque  grati  deferunt 
Palmas,  coronas,  lilia. 

Patri  perennis  gloria, 

Natoque  Patris  unico, 
.  .         Sanctoque  sit  Paraclito 

Saeculum  per  omne  gloria. 
Amen. 

V.  Sit  Nomen  Domini  benedictum.  Alleluia. 
R.  Ex  hoc  nunc  et  usque  in  saeculum.  Alleluia. 
Ad  Magnif.  Ant.  Hi  sunt  fratrum  amatores,  et  populi  Israel : 
hi  sunt,  qui  multum  orant  pro  populo,  et  universa  sancta  civitate. 

ORATIO 

Da  nobis  quaesumus  Domine,  per  intercessionem  beati  Patris 
Ignatii  sanctorumque  omnium  qui  sub  sanctissimo  Nominis  Jesu 
vexillo  ipso  duce  militarunt  :  ita  tibi  perfecto  corde  servire  ;  ut 
post  huius  vitae  cursum  gloriosi  e.xitus  illorum  consortes  esse 
mereamur.    Per  Dominum. 

AD  MATUTINUM 

Invital.  Regem  regum  Dominum  venite  adoremus  :  Quia  ipse 
est  corona  Sanctorum  omnium. 


270 


THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


HYMNUS 

Sol  noctis  umbras  discutit, 

Terrasque  complet  lumine  : 
Tu,  Christe,  nostris  mentibus, 
Aeterna  lux  illabere. 

Fratrum  triumpho  plaudimus, 
Qui  te  secuti  principem, 
;    ■  Tuo  perennem  Nomini 

Laudem  beati  concinunt. 

O  Nomen  admirabile, 

Omnique  maius  nomine  .' 
Invicta  semper  militum 
Tutela,  terror  hostium. 

Nostrum  decus,  spes  unica, 
Jesu,  fidelis  agminis, 
Quod  sub  tuis  insignibus 
Caeli  meret  stipendia. 

Fac  nos  benigno  numine 

Exempla  patrum  persequi : 
Te  corda  nostra  diligant ; 
In  corde  regnes  omnium. 

Patri  perennis  gloria, 

Natoque  Patris  unico, 
Sanctoque  sit  Paraclito 
Saeculum  per  omne  gloria, 
'     ■  Amen. 

-  IN  I.  NOCTURNO 

Ant.  I.  Turris  fortissima  Nomen  Domini :  ad  ipsum  currit 
iustus,  et  exaltabitur.  • 

Psalmi  in  tribus  Nochirnis  tit  in  Festo  Omnium  Sanctorum. 

2.  In  omnem  terram  exivit  sonus  eorum,  et  in  fines  orbis 
terrae  verba  eorum. 

3.  Quis  ascendet  in  montem  Domini  ?  aut  quis  stabit  in  loco 
sancto  eius  ?    Innocens  manibus  et  mundo  corde. 

V.  Laetamini  in  Domino,  et  exultate  iusti. 

R.  Et  gloriamini  omnes  recti  corde. 

De  Epistola  beati  Pauli  Apostoli  ad  Ephesios. 

Lectio  I.  Cap.  I. 

Gratia  vobis  et  pax  a  Deo  Patre  nostro,  et  Domino  Jesu 
Christo.    Benedictus  Deus  et  Pater  Domini  nostri  Jesu  Christi 


DOCUMENTS 


271 


qui  benedixit  nos  in  omni  benedictione  spirituali  in  caelestibus 
in  Christo.  Sicut  elegit  nos  in  ipso  ante  mundi  constitutionem, 
ut  essemus  sancti  et  immaculati  in  conspectu  eius  in  charitate. 
Qui  praedestinavit  nos  in  adoptionem  filiorum  per  Jesum  Chris- 
tum in  ipsum  :  secundum  propositum  voluntatis  suae,  in  laudem 
gloriae  gratiae  suae,  in  qua  gratificavit  nos  in  dilecto  Filio  suo. 
In  quo  habemus  redemptionem  per  sanguinem  eius,  remissionem 
peccatorum  secundum  divitias  gratiae  eius,  quae  superabun- 
davit  in  nobis  in  omni  sapientia,  et  prudentia  :  ut  notum  faceret 
nobis  sacramentum  voluntatis  suae,  secundum  beneplacitum 
eius,  quod  proposuit  in  eo,  in  dispensatione  plenitudinis  tem- 
porum,  instaurare  omnia  in  Christo,  quae  in  caelis,  et  quae  in 
terra  sunt,  in  ipso  :  in  quo  etiam  et  nos  sorte  vocati  sumus  prae- 
destinati  secundum  propositum  eius,  qui  operatur  omnia  secun- 
dum consilium  voluntatis  suae  ;  ut  simus  in  laudem  gloriae  eius. 

R.  Adorabant  viventem  in  saecula  saeculorum,  et  mittebant 
coronas  suas  ante  thronum  dicentes :  *  Dignus  es,  Domine 
Deus  noster,  accipere  gloriam,  et  honorem,  et  virtutem. 

V.  Fecisti  nos  Deo  nostro  regnum,  et  sacerdotes.    Dignus  es^ 
Ledio  II.  .  .  ;  .  Cap.  IV. 

Obsecro  itaque  vos,  ut  digne  ambuletis  vocations,  qua  vocati 
estis,  cum  omni  humilitate,  et  mansuetudine,  cum  patientia 
supportantes  invicem  in  charitate,  soUiciti  servare  unitatem, 
spiritus  in  vinculo  pacis.  Unum  corpus,  et  unus  spiritus  sicut 
vocati  estis  in  una  spe  vocationis  vestrae.  Unus  Dominus,  una 
fides,  unum  baptisma.  Unus  Deus  et  pater  omnium,  qui  est 
super  omnes,  et  per  omnia,  et  in  omnibus  nobis.  Unicuique 
autem  nostrum  data  est  gratia  secundum  mensuram  donationis 
Christi.  Et  ipse  dedit  quosdam  quidem  Apostolos,  quosdam 
autem  Prophetas,  alios  vero  Evangelistas,  alios  autem  pastores 
et  doctores  ad  consummationem  sanctorem  in  opus  ministerii, 
in  aedificationem  corporis  Christi ;  donee  occurramus  omnes  in 
unitatem  fidei,  et  agnitionis  Filii  Dei,  in  virum  perfectum,  in 
mensuram  aetatis  plenitudinis  Christi  ;  veritatem  autem  facientes 
in  charitate,  crescamus  in  illo  per  omnia,  qui  est  caput  Christus. 

R.  Vidi  subtus  altare  animas  interfectorum  propter  verbum 
Dei ;  et  clamabant  voce  magna  :  *  Usquequo  Domine,  non  vin- 
dicas  sanguinem  nostrum  ? 

V.  Et  dictum  est  illis  ut  requiescerent  adhuc  tempus  mo- 
dicum, donee  compleantur  conservi  eorum,  et  fratres  eorum. 
Usquequo. 


272  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


DE  EPISTOLA  AD  RQMANOS 

Lectio  III.  Cap.  XII. 

Obsecro  itaque  vos,  fratres,  per  misericordiam  Dei,  ut  exhi- 
beatis  corpora  vestra  hostiam  viventem,  sanctam,  Deo  placentem, 
rationabile  obsequium  vestrum.  Habentes  autem  donationes 
secundum  gratiam,  quae  data  est  nobis,  differentes  :  sive  pro- 
phetiam  secundum  rationem  fidei,  sive  ministerium  in  minis- 
trando,  sive  qui  docet  in  doctrina,  qui  exhortatur  in  exhortando, 
qui  tribuit  in  simplicitate,  qui  praeest  in  sollicitudine,  qui  mise- 
retur  in  hilaritate.  Dilectio  sine  simulatione.  Odientes  malum, 
adhaerentes  bono :  charitate  fraternitatis  invicem  diligentes : 
honore  invicem  praevenientes  :  sollicitudine  non  pigri :  spiritu 
ferventes  :  Domino  servientes  :  spe  gaudentes  :  in  tribulatione 
patientes  :  orationi  instantes.  Benedicite  persequentibus  vos  : 
benedicite  et  nolite  maledicere.  NuUi  malum  pro  malo  reddentes 
providentes  bona  non  tantum  coram  Deo,  sed  etiam  coram  om- 
nibus hominibus. 

R.  Sedes  Dei  et  Agni  in  ilia  erunt,  et  servi  eius  servient  illi ; 
et  videbunt  faciem  eius  ;  *  Et  Nomen  eius  in  frontibus  eorum. 

V.  Dominus  Deus  illuminabit  illos,  et  regnabunt  in  saecula 
saeculorum.    Et  Nomen.    Gloria  Patri.    Et  Nomen. 

IN  II.  NOCTURNO 

Ant.  I.  Dominus  pars  hereditatis  meae,  et  calicis  mei :  tu 
es  qui  restitues  hereditatem  meam  mihi. 

2.  Impinguasti  in  oleo  caput  meum  :  et  calix  mens  inebrians 
quam  praeclarus  est. 

3.  Magnificavit  Dominus  facere  nobiscum :  facti  sumus 
laetantes. 

V.  Exultent  iusti  in  conspectu  Dei. 
R.  Et  delectentur  in  laetitia. 

DE  SERMONE  S.  BERNARDI  ABBATIS 

In  trans.  S.  Malach.  Ep.  serm.  II.  circ.  nied. 

LECTIO  IV. 

Congratulemur,  fratres,  congratulemur,  ut  dignum  est,  paren- 
tibus  nostris  ;  quia  et  pium  est  defunctos  plangere,  et  pium  magis 
congaudere  viventibus.  Numquid  non  vivunt  ?  Et  beate. 
Nimirum  visi  sunt  oculis  insipientium  mori,  illi  autem  sunt  in 
pace.  Denique  iam  concives  sanctorum  et  domestici  Dei,  psal- 
lunt  pariter  et  agunt  gratias  dicentes  :  Transivimus  per  ignem 


DOCUMENTS 


273 


et  aquam,  et  eduxisti  nos  in  refrigerium.  Transierunt  plane 
viriliter,  et  feliciter  pertransierunt.  Transierunt  plane  per  ignem 
et  aquam,  quos  nec  tristia  frangere,  nec  detinere  mollia  potue- 
runt.  Laetemur,  quod  angeli  nostri  ascenderunt  ad  cives  suos, 
pro  filiis  captivitatis  legatione  fungentes,  corda  nobis  conciliantes 
beatorum,  vota  illis  intimantes  miserorum.  Laetemur,  inquam, 
et  exsultemus,  quia  caelestis  ilia  curia  ex  nobis  habet,  quibus 
sit  cura  nostri,  qui  suis  nos  protegant  meritis,  quos  informa- 
runt  exemplis,  miraculis  confirmarunt. 

R.  Beati  pauperes  spiritu  :  *  Quoniam  ipsorum  est  regnum 
caelorum. 

V.  Hi  sunt,  qui  cum  mulieribus  non  sunt  coinquinati ;  vir- 
gines  enim  sunt.  Quoniam. 

LECTIO  V. 

Benedictus  Dominus  Deus,  qui  tantorum  Sanctorum  minis- 
terio  visitavit  plebem  suam,  et  nunc  assumptis  iis  in  sanctam 
civitatem,  tantae  recordatione  suavitatis  nostram  non  desinit 
consolari  captivitatem.  Exultent  in  Domino  spiritus  eorum, 
quod  levati  pondere  corporeae  molis,  nulla  iam  terrena  materia 
praegravantur,  quominus  tota  alacritate  ac  vivacitate  corpoream 
omnem  et  incorpoream  transeuntes  creaturam,  pergant  toti  in 
Deum,  et  adhaerentes  illi,  unus  sint  cum  eo  spiritus  in  aeternum. 

R.  Qui  ad  iustitiam  erudiunt  multos  :  *  Quasi  stellae  in  per- 
Detuas  aeternitates. 

V.  Quam  speciosi  pedes  evangelizantium  pacem,  evange- 
lizantium  bona.    Quasi  stellae,  etc. 

LECTIO  VI. 

Domum  istam  decet  sanctitudo,  in  qua  tantae  frequentatur 
memoria  sanctitatis.  Sancti  nostri,  servate  eam  in  sanctitate  et 
iustitia,  miserti  nostri,  qui  inter  tot  et  tantas  miserias  memoriam 
abundantiae  suavitatis  vestrae  eructamus.  Magna  est  super  vos 
divinae  dispensatio  pietatis  ;  qui  vos  parvos  fecit  in  oculis  vestris, 
magnos  in  suis  ;  qui  magna  fecit  per  vos,  salvans  tot  gentes, 
magna  fecit  vobis,  introducens  vos  in  gloriam  suam.  Festivitas 
vestra,  quae  merito  vestris  virtutibus  votiva  impenditur,  vestris 
nobis  efficiatur  meritis  et  precibus  salutaris.  Liceat  nobis  ali- 
quas,  vobis  migrantibus,  retinere  reliquias  de  fructibus  spiritus, 
quibus  onusti  ascenditis,  qui  in  vestro  hodie  tarn  delicioso  con- 
vivio  congregamur.  Vita  vestra,  lex  vitae  et  disciplinae ; 
memoria  vestra,  dulcedo  suavitatis  et  gratiae. 

VOL.  XV.  s 


274 


THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


R.  Beati  qui  persecutionem  patiuntur  propter  iustitiam  : 
*  Quoniam  ipsorum  est  regnum  caelorum. 

V.  Nolite  mirari,  si  odit  vos  mundus  ;  quia  me  priorem  vobis 
odio  habuit.    Ipsorum.    Gloria  Patri.  Quoniam. 

IN  III.  NOCTURNO 

Anl.  I.  Fundatur  exultatione  universae  terrae  mons  Sion  : 
Deus  fundavit  eum  in  aeternum. 

2.  Cor  meum  et  caro  mea  exultaverunt  in  Deum  vivum. 

3.  Beati  qui  habitant  in  domo  tua,  Domine  :  in  saecula 
saeculorum  laudabunt  te. 

.  V.  Justi  autem  in  perpetuum  vivent. 
R.  Et  apud  Dominum  est  merces  eorum. 
Lectio  sancti  Evangelii  secundum  Matthaeum. 
Lectio  VII.  Cap.  V. 

In  illo  tempore  :  Videns  Jesus  turbas,  ascendit  in  montem 
et  cum  sedisset,  accesserunt  ad  eum  discipuli  eius.  Et  reliqua. 

HOMILIA  S.  BERNARDI  ABBATIS 

In  festo  Omn.  Sand.  Serm.  3  in  Matth.  V. 
Advertistis,  nisi  fallor,  tres  esse  sanctarum  status  animarum  : 
primum  videlicet  in  corpore  corruptibili,  secundum,  sine  corpore, 
tertium  in  corpore  iam  glorificato.  Primum  in  militia,  secun- 
dum in  requie,  tertium  in  beatitudine  consummata  ;  primum 
denique  in  tabernaculis,  secundum  in  atriis,  tertium  in  domo 
Dei.  Quam  dilecta  tabernacula  tua,  Domine  virtutum  !  Multo 
magis  tamen  atria  concupiscibilia.  Sad  beati  omnino  qui  habi- 
tant in  domo  tua,  Domine.  Laetatus  plane  sum  in  his,  quae 
dicta  sunt  mihi,  fratres,  quoniam  in  domum  Domini  ibimus. 
Guod  si  quaeritis,  unde  id  tam  fiducialiter  praesumam  ;  inde  sine 
dubio,  quod  iam  multi  ex  nobis  in  atriis  stent,  exspectantes  donee 
recipiant  corpora  sua,  donee  impleatur  numerus  fratrum.  In 
illam  enim  beatissimam  domum  nec  sine  nobis  intrabunt,  nec 
sine  corporibus  suis,  idest  nec  sancti  sine  plebe,  nec  spiritus  sine 
carne. 

R.  Beata  gens,  cuius  Dominus  Deus  eius  :  *  Populus,  quem 
elegit  in  haereditatem  sibi. 

V.  Ecce  tabernaculum  Dei  cum  hominibus.  et  habitabit  cum 
eis.    Populus.     .  ^ 

LECTIO  vni. 

Propterea  cum  resurrectionem  expeterent  corporum,  acce- 


DOCUMENTS 


275 


perunt  divinum  responsum,  dicens  :  Sustinete  modicum  tempus, 
doniic  compleatur  numerus  fratrum  vestrorum.  Acceperunt 
tamen  lam  smgulas  stolas  ;  sed  non  vestientur  duplicibus,  donee 
vestiamur  et  nos.  Stola  enim  prima  ipsa  est  felicitas  et  requies 
animarum  :  secunda  vero  immortalitas  et  gloria  corporum.  Sed 
una  hoc  tibi,  o  misera  caro,  unde  tibi  hoc  ?  Animae  sanctae, 
quas  propria  Deus  insignivit  imagine,  te  desiderant  ;  quas  re- 
medit  proprio  sanguine,  te  expectant ;  et  ipsarum  sine  te  compleri 
laetitia,  perfici  gloria,  consummari  beatitude  non  potest. 

R.  Defecit  caro  mea,  et  cor  meum  :  *  Deus  cordis  mei,  et  pars 
mea  Deus  in  aeternum. 

V.  Quid  mihi  est  in  caelo  ?  et  a  te  quid  volui  super  terram  ? 
Deus  cordis  mei.    Gloria  Patri.    Deus  cordis  mei. 

LECTIO  IX. 

Quid  ergo  ?  putasne,  poterit  humana  anima  in  hoc  gaudium 
Domini  sui  et  in  hanc  eius  requiem  intrare  ?  Poterit  sine  dubio 
si  fidelis  inveniatur  super  pauca,  quae  accepit  militiae  suae  tem- 
pore. Sciat  ergo  servus  Christi  vas  suum  possidere  sanctifica- 
tione  ;  glorificet  et  portet  Deum  in  corpore  suo  :  nec  dubium 
quin  fidelem  in  modico  servum  supra  multa  constituat  Dominus 
liberalis  et  dives.  Supra  multa  plane,  quoniam  constituet  eum 
dominum  domus  suae,  et  principem  omnis  possessionis  suae. 
Haec  est  ergo  beata  spes  quam  expectant  animae  sanctae  et : 
licet  in  gratiarum  actione  versentur  pro  ea  felicitate,  in  qua  iara 
requiescunt ;  adhuc  tamen  orant  et  clamant  ad  Deum  pro  ea 
consummatione,  suam  praestolantur. 

AD  LAUDES 
ei  per  Horas 

Ant.  1.  Notas  mihi  fecisti  vias  vitae :  adimplebis  me  laetitia 
cum  vultu  tuo. 

2.  Ego  autem  in  iustitia  apparebo  conspectui  tuo  :  satiabor 
cum  apparuerit  gloria  tua. 

3.  Sanctorum  velut  aquilae  inventus  renovabitur  :  florebunt 
sicut  lilium  in  civitate  Domini. 

4.  Inebriabuntur  ab  ubertate  domus  tuae  :  et  torrente  volup- 
tatis  tuae  potabis  eos. 

5.  Haec  requies  mea  in  saeculum  saeculi :  hie  habitabo, 
quoniam  elegi  earn. 

Capitulum.  I.  Thess.  IV, 

Fratres,  rogamus  vos  et  obsecramus  in  Domino  Jesu,  ut 


276  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


quemadmodum  accepistis  a  nobis,  quomodo  oporteat  vos 
ambulare  et  placere  Deo,  sic  et  ambuletis,  ut  abundetis 
magis. 

HYMNUS 

O  virgo  Mater,  virginum 

Flos,  nostra  quam  sodalitas 
.'         Vitae  vel  ipso  a  limine 

Dulcem  parentem  nominat. 

.■  Sancta  auspicate  vulnere 

Vocas  ad  arma  Ignatium  : 
Materna  parvo  coetui 
Arridet  orto  charitas. 

Ades  serene  lumine, 

Motosque  sedas  aequoris 
■  ■     ,         Fluctus,  procellas  disiicis, 
Pacisque  reddis  munera. 

■  Te  afflante,  virtus  enitet, 

Rubet  rosarum  purpura, 
Intacta  florent  lilia, 
Palmae  virescunt  martyrum. 

Rex  Jesus  et  dux  agminis  ; 
Tu,  Mater  alma  Numinis, 
-      ,    ■    ■  ;        Regina  :  utrique  subdimur, 
Jesu  tuique  milites. 

Patris  perennis  gloria, 

Natoque  Patris  unico, 
Sanctoque  sit  Paraclito 
Saeculum  per  omne  gloria, 
Amen. 

V.  Adiutorium  nostrum  in  Nomine  Domini : 
R.  Qui  fecit  caelum  et  terram. 

Ad  Bened.  Ant.  Ecce  Dominus  veniet,  et  omnes  Sancti  eius 
cum  eo  ;  et  erit  in  die  ilia  lux  magna.  Alleluia. 

ORATIO 

Da  nobis,  quaesumus  Domine,  per  intercessionem  beati  Patris 
Ignatii  sanctorumque  omnium  qui  sub  sanctissimo  Nominis  Jesu 
vexillo  ipso  duce  militarunt  :  ita  tibi  perfecto  corde  servire  ;  ut 
post  huius  vitae  cursum  gloriosi  exitus  illorum  consortes  esse 
mereamur.    Per  Dominum. 


DOCUMENTS 


277 


AD  TERTIAM 
Capit.  I.  Thess.  IV. 

Fratres,  rogamus  vos  et  obsecramus  in  Domino  Jesu,  ut 
quemadmodum  accepistis  a  nobis,  quomodo  oporteat  vos  ambu- 
lare  et  placere  Deo,  sic  et  ambuletis,  ut  abundetis  magis. 

R.  br.  Laetamini  in  Domino  :  *  Et  exultate  iusti.  Laeta- 
mini. 

V.  Et  gloriamini  omnes  recti  corde.  Et  exultate.  Gloria 
Patri.    Laetamini.  ;  ■  : 

V.  Exultent  iusti  in  conspectu  Dei. 
R.  Et  delectentur  in  laetitia.  i  .  '  '•  .,  ;■■  ' 

AD  SEXTAM 
Capit.  Tob.  11.  18. 

Filii  Sanctorum  sumus,  et  vitam  illam  expectamus,  quam 
Deus  daturus  est  his,  qui  fidem  suam  nunquam  mutant  ab  eo. 

R.  br.  Exultent  iusti  *  In  conspectu  Dei.  Exultent.  V. 
Et  delectentur  in  laetitia.  In  conspectu.  Gloria  Patri.  Exul- 
tent. 

V.  Justii  autem  in  perpetuum  vivent.       .  .  ... 

R.  Et  apud  Dominum  est  merces  eorum. 

AD  NONAM 

Capit.  2.  Cor.  II.  14. 

Deo  autem  gratias,  qui  semper  triumphat  nos  in  Christo  lesu, 
et  odorem  notitiae  suae  manifestat  per  nos  in  omni  loco  ;  quia 
Christi  bonus  odor  sumus  Deo. 

R.  br.  Iusti  autem  :  *  In  perpetuum  vivent.  Iusti.  V .  Et 
apud  Dominum  est  merces  eorum  :  In  perpet.  Gloria  Patri. 
Iusti. 

V .  Adiutorium  nostrum  in  Nomine  Domini :  ' 
R.  Qui  fecit  caelum  et  terram. 

IN  II.  VESPERIS 

Ayit.  I.  Quam  dilecta  tabernacula  tua,  Domine  virtutum  ! 
concupiscit  et  deficit  anima  mea  in  atria  Domini. 

Psalmi  ut  in  I.  Vesp.,  et  loco  ultim.,  Ps.  115  Credidi. 

2.  Elegi  abiectus  esse  in  domo  Dei  i.Tiei,  magis  quam  habitare 
in  tabernaculis  peccatorum, 

3.  Mihi  autem  adhaerere  Deo  bonum  est :  ponere  in  Domino 
Deo  spem  meam. 

f4.  Fortitudo  mea,  et  laus  mea  Doniinus  :  vox  exultationis  et 
ScJutis  in  tabernaeulis  iustorum. 


278  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


5.  Unam  peti  a  Domino,  hanc  requiram  :  ut  inhabitem  in 
domo  Domini  omnibus  diebus  vitae  meae. 

Capitiilum.  I.  Thess.  IV. 

Fratres,  rogamus  vos  et  obsecramus  in  Domino  lesu,  ut  que- 
madmodum  accepistis  a  nobis  quomodo  oporteat  vos  ambulare 
et  placere  Deo,  sic  et  ambuletis,  ut  abundetis  magis. 

Hymnus,  ut  in  I.  Vesperis. 

V.  Sit  nomen  Domini  benedictum.  Alleluia. 

R.  Ex  hoc  nunc  et  usque  in  saeculum,  Alleluia. 

Ad  Magnif.  Ant.  Vos  qui  reliquistis  omnia,  et  secuti  estis 
me,  centuplum  accipietis,  et  vitam  aeternam  possidebitis. 

O  RATIO 

Da  nobis,  quaesumus  Domine,  per  intercessionem  beati  Patris 
Ignatii  sanctorumque  omnium  qui  sub  sanctissimo  Nominis  Jesu 
vexillo  ipso  duce  militarunt  :  ita  tibi  perfecto  corde  servire  ;  ut 
post  huius  vitae  cursum  gloriosi  exitus  illorum  consortes  esse 
mereamur.    Per  Dominum. 


Missa  in  Festo  Omnium  Sanctorum  Societatis  Jesu 

Iniroitus.  Philip.  II. 

In  nomine  lesu  omne  genu  flectatur,  caelestium,  terrestrium, 
et  infernorum  :  et  omnis  lingua  confiteatur,  quia  Dominus  lesus 
Christus  in  gloria  est  Dei  Patris. 

Ps.  8.  Domine,  Dominus  noster,  quam  admirabile  est  Nomen 
tuum  in  uni versa  terra  !    V.  Gloria  Patri. 

ORATIO 

Deus,  qui  nos,  sub  sanctissimo  Nominis  tui  vexillo  militantes, 
beati  Patris  Ignatii  et  Sanctorum  nostrorum  praesidio  confir- 
masti  ;  concede,  ut,  quorum  celebramus  gloriam,  virtutum  quoque 
imitemur  exempla.    Qui  vivis. 

Lectio  Epistolae  Beati  Panli  Apostoli  ad  Corinihios. 
Ep.  II.  cap.  VI. 

Fratres :  Adiuvantes  autem  exhortamur,  ne  in  vacuum 
gratiam  Dei  recipiatis.  Nemini  dantes  ullam  offensionem,  ut 
non  vituperetur  ministerium  nostrum  ;  sed  in  omnibus  exhi- 
beamus  nosmetipsos  sicut  Dei  ministros  in  multa  patientia,  in 
tribulationibus,  in  necessitatibus,  in  angustiis,  in  plagis,  in  car- 
ceribus,  in  seditionibus,  in  laboribus,  in  vigiliis,  in  ieiuniis,  in 
castitate,  in  scientia,  in  longanimitate,  in  suavitate,  in  Spiritu 
Sancto,  in  charitate  non  ficta,  in  verbo  veritatis,  in  virtute  Dei, 


DOCUMENTS 


279 


per  arma  iustitiae  a  dextris  et  a  sinistris,  per  gloriam  et  igno- 
bilitatem,  per  infamiam  et  bonam  famam  :  ut  seductores,  et 
veraces,  sicut  qui  ignoti  et  cogniti :  quasi  morientes,  et  ecce 
vivimus  :  ut  castigati,  et  non  mortificati :  quasi  tristes,  semper 
autem  gaudentes  :  sicut  egentes,  multos  autem  locupletantes  : 
tanquam  nihil  habentes,  et  omnia  possidentes.  Vos  enim  estis 
templum  Dei  vivi  sicut  dicit  Deus  :  Quoniam  inhabitabo  in  illis 
et  inambulabo  inter  eos  :  et  ero  illorum  Deus,  et  ipsi  erunt  mihi 
populus. 

Graduale. — Hebr.  XIII.  Mementote  praepositorumvestrorum, 
qui  vobis  locuti  sunt  verbum  Dei :  quorum  intuentes  exitum  con- 
versationis,  imitamini  fidem. 

V.  Ps.  132.  Ecce  quam  bonum,  et  quam  iucundum  habitare 
fratres  in  unum.    Alleluia,  Alleluia. 

V.  Luc.  XXII.  Vos  estis.  qui  permansistis  mecum  in  tenta- 
tionibus  meis  :  et  ego  dispono  vobis  regnum  ut  sedeatis  super 
thronos  iudicantes  duodecim  tribus  Israel.  Alleluia. 

Sequentia  sancii  Evangelii  secundum  Matthaeimi. 

In  illo  tempore  :  Videns  lesus  turbas,  ascendit  in  montem  et 
cum  sedisset,  accesserunt  ad  eum  discipuli  eius,  et  aperiens,  os 
suum,  docebat  eos  dicens :  Beati  pauperes  spiritu  ;  quoniam 
ipsorum  est  regnum  caelorum.  Beati  mites ;  quoniam  ipsi 
possidebunt  terram.  Beati  qui  lugent ;  quoniam  ipsi  consola- 
buntur.  Beati  qui  esuriunt  et  sitiunt  iustitiam  ;  quoniam  ipsi 
saturabuntur.  Beati  misericordes  ;  quoniam  ipsi  misericordiam 
consequentur.  Beati  mundo  corde  ;  quoniam  ipsi  Deum  vide- 
bunt.  Beati  pacifici ;  quoniam  filii  Dei  vocabuntur.  Beati  qu^ 
persecutionem  patiuntur  propter  iustitiam  ;  quoniam  ipsorum 
est  regnum  caelorum.  Beati  estis  cum  maledixeriut  vobis,  et 
persecuti  vos  fuerint,  et  dixerint  omne  malum  adversura  vos 
mentientes  propter  me  :  gaudete  et  exsultate,  quoniam  merces 
vestra  copiosa  est  in  caelis.  -  ■ 

CREDO 

Offcrtorium.  Ecc.  XLIV.  Filii  eorum  propter  illos  usque  in 
aeternum  manent  :  semen  eorum  et  gloria  eorum  non  derelin- 
quetur.    Nomen  eorum  vivit  in  generationem  et  generationem. 

SECRETA 

Militibus  tuis,  Domine,  adesto  propitius,  Sanctorum  nostro- 
rum  mterveniente  suffragio  ;  et  quos  caelestibus  mysteriis  alls  ad 
victoriam,  tui  Nominis  virtute  confirma.    Qui  vivis. 


28o 


THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


Commimio.  i.  Cor.  I.  9.  Fidelis  Deus,  per  quern  vocati  estis 
in  societatem  filii  eius  lesu  Christi  Domini  iiostri. 

POSTCOMMUNIO 
Fac  nos,  Domine  lesu,  immortalitatis  alimonia  refectos,  in 
Corde  tuo  iugiter  vivere  ;  ut  te  in  omnibus  et  super  omnia  dili- 
gentes,  perpetua  vita  cum  Sanctis  tuis  fruamur  in  caelis.  Qui 
vivis. 

THE  APPOINTMENT  OF  ITALIAN  BISHOPS 

■  .        -  MOTU-PROPRIO 
DE  ELECTIONE  EPISCOPORUM  AD  SUPREMAM  S.  CONGREGATIONEM 

S.  OFFICII  AVOCANDA 

,  ,  .  -     Pivs  pp.  X. 

Romanis  Pontificibus  maximae  semper  curae  fuit,  ut  singulis 
in  orbe  terrarum  Ecclesiis  tales  jDraeficerentur  Pastores  qui  probe 
scirent  strenueque  valerent  tantum  sustinere  onus  vel  ipsis 
angelicis  humeris  formidandum.  Ex  quo  factum  est  ut  ab 
antiquis  temporibus  plura  iidem  ediderint,  quibus  vel  novae  pro 
Episcoporum  felici  delectu  traderentur  normae,  vel  iam  tradi- 
tarum  observantia  urgeretur. 

Haec  inter  speciali  quidem  recordatione  digna  censemus  quae, 
ante  Sacrosanctum  Tridentinum  Concilium,  Supremus  Pontifex 
Leo  X,^  post  illud  vero,  Xistus  V,^  Gregorius  XIV'  atque  Urbanus 
VHP  de  qualitatibus  promovendorum  deque  forma  in  eorum 
promotione  servanda  sapientissime  constituerunt ;  Nobis  tamen 
in  primis  memorare  libet  quae  a  piae  memoriae  Decessoribus 
Nostris  Benedicto  XIV^  et  Leone  XIII"  decreta  sunt.  Quorum 
alter  methodum  hac  in  re  gravissima  a  priore  invectam  ab  usu 
paulatim  recessisse  dolens,  eam  instaurare  cogitans,  inde  a  primo 
sui  Pontilicatus  anno,  Constitutione  Inimortalis  memoriae  pecu- 
liarem  S.R.E.  Cardinalium  Congregationem  instituit,  cuius  esset. 


1  Bulla  Supcrnac  disposttionis  edita  3  Nonas  Mali  15 14. 
^  Bulla  Immcnsa  edita  ii  Kal.  Febr.  1587. 
'  Bulla  Onus  edita  Idibus  Maii  1591. 

■*  Instructio  circa  modum  servandi  praescriptiones  Cone.  Trid.  et  Const. 
Onus  Greg.  XIV  in  processibus  de  eligendis  Episcopis,  edita  an.  1627.  In 
Cone.  Trid.  hac  de  re  agitur  sess.  VII,  cap.  i  ;  sess.  XXIV,  cap.  2  ;  sess.  XXV, 
cap.  I. 

'  Bulla  Ad  ApostoUcae  edita  16  Kal.  Nov.  1740,  et  Gravissimum  edita  die 
18  Ian.  1757. 

6  Bulla  Immortalis  memoriae  edita  11  Kal.  Oct.  1878. 


DOCUMENTS 


281 


salva  manente  in  omnibus  forma  et  ratione  in  electione  et  con- 
firmatione  Episcoporum  exterarum  regionum  eousque  a  Sancta 
hac  Sede  servata,  operam  suam  ad  promotionem  praeficien- 
dorum  Italiae  dioecesibus  sedulo  praestare. 

Providentissimi  huius  instituti  salutaribus  effectibus  experi- 
entia  comprobatis,  vix  dum,  licet  inviti,  universalis  Ecclesiae 
gubernacula,  Deo  disponente,  tractanda  suscepimus,  ad  illud 
perficiendum  provehendumque  animum  intendimtis.  Quern  in 
finem  praefatam  de  eligendis  Italiae  Episcopis  a  Leone  XIII 
fundatam  Congregationem,  Supremae  Sacrae  Congregationi  S. 
Officii,  cui  Ipsimet  immediate  praesidemus,  coagmentantes, 
decernimus  at  statimus  ut,  servatis  ex  integro  rationibus  et 
formis  quae  in  electione  Episcoporum  pro  locis  Sacris  Congre- 
gationibus  de  Propaganda  Fide  et  Negotiorum  Ecclesiasticorum 
Extraordinariorum  subiectis  vel  ubi  peculiaribus  Constitutionibus 
aut  Concordatus  res  moderatur,  in  praesens  adhibentur,  caetero- 
rum  omnium  Episcoporum  delectus  ac  promotio  eidem  Supremae 
S.  Officii  Congregationi,  veluti  materia  ipsius  propria,  deferatur. 

Et  quoniam  huius  Congregationis  id  proprium  est,  quod  eius 
membra  et  officiales  ad  suum  munus  fideliter  obeundum  inviola- 
tumque  in  omnibus  et  cum  omnibus  secretum  servandum  sub 
poena  teneantur  excommunicationis  maioris  latae  sententiae, 
ipso  facto  et  absque  alia  declaratione  incurrendae,  a  qua  nonnisi 
a  Nobis  atque  a  Nostris  pro  tempore  Successoribus  Romanis 
Pontificibus,  privative  etiam  quoad  S.  Poenitentiaram  ipsumque 
D.  Cardinalem  Poenitentiarium,  praeterquam  in  articulo  mortis, 
absolvi  queant ;  eadem  prorsus  obligatione  sub  iisdem  omnino 
poenis  et  sanctionibus  teneri  in  posterum  volumus  atque  expresse 
declaramus  omnes  et  singulos,  cuiuscumque  dignitatis  ac  prae- 
eminentiae  sint,  quos  in  negocio  de  eligendis  per  supradictam 
Supremam  S.  Officii  Congregationem  Episcopis,  quovis  modo, 
ratione  vel  titulo  partem  habere  contingat. 

Ut  autem  eidem  Supremae  Congregationi  in  gravissimo  hoc 
expediendo  negocio,  certa  et  constans  norma  praesto  foret ; 
methodum  ea  in  re  sequendam,  opportuna  Instructione,  sin- 
gillatim  describi  curavimus  ;  qua,  praeter  ea  quae  de  accura- 
tissima  circa  promovendorum  fidem,  vitam,  mores  prudentiamque 
inquisitione  peragenda  statuimus,  in  plenum  vigorem  revoca- 
vimus  pericnhim  de  doctrina  quod  ab  ipsis  promovendis,  habita 
ratione  praescriptionum  S.  Caroli  Borromaei  in  Cone.  Prov. 
Mediolan.  I.  p.  2,  omnino  faciendum  praecipimus. 


282  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


Quae  quidem  omnia  ut  per  ipsammet  Supremam  Congrega- 
tionem  S.  Officii  plane  adimpleri  valeant,  mandamus  denique, 
ad  quos  spectat,  ut  Sedium  Episcopalium,  ut  supra  non  excep- 
tarum,  vacatio  eidem  in  posterum,  litteris  ad  ipsius  Cardinalem 
Secretarium  datis,  quamprimum  ac  recto  tramite  notificetur. 

Haec  edicimus,  declaramus,  sancimus,  contrariis  quibus- 
cumque  non  obstantibus. 

Datum  Romae,  apud  S.  Petrum  die  XVII  Decembris  MCMIII, 
Pontificatus  Nostri  anno  primo. 


PIVS  PP.  X. 


t  283  ] 


NOTICES  OF  BOOKS 

A  History  of  Modern  England.  By  Herbert  Paul.  In 
Five  Vols.  Vols.  I,,  II.  London  :  Macmillan  &  Co., 
1904. 

Mr.  Herbert  Paul's  History  of  Modem  England  will  be 
complete  in  five  volumes.  So  far  only  two  have  appeared  ; 
and  we  have  just  made  our  way  through  them.  The  history 
begins  with  the  downfall  of  Sir  Robert  Peel's  government  in 
1846,  and  the  two  first  volumes  bring  us  to  the  death  of  Lord 
Palmerston  in  1865.  The  period  is  full  of  interest.  The  Prime 
Ministers  during  the  time  were  Lord  John  Russell,  Lord 
Derby,  Lord  Aberdeen,  Lord  Palmerston,  Lord  Derby  again, 
and  Lord  Palmerston  again.  The  '  Ecclesiastical  Titles  Bill,' 
the  '  Irish  Famine,'  the  '  Italian  Revolution,'  the  '  Crimean 
War,'  the  ''Indian  Mutiny,'  the  American  '  Civil  War,'  are  the 
chief  events  that  come  under  review. 

Mr.  Herbert  Paul's  historical  style  is  that  of  an  expert  jour- 
nalist rather  than  of  a  great  historian.  The  book  is  full  of  clever 
things,  of  epigrammatic  summaries,  of  keen  invective,  of 
brilliant  description.  It  is  magnificent  ;  but  it  is  not  history. 
When  Mr.  Herbert  Paul  has  finished  his  five  volumes  he  will 
have  produced  a  most  interesting  and  attractive  work  ;  but  the 
'  History  of  Modern  England  '  will  still  remain  to  be  written. 

In  matters  Irish  which  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  Church 
Mr.  Paul  is  usually  sympathetic,  although  his  sympathy  stops 
short  as  a  rule  when  it  comes  to  a  matter  of  finance.  His  treat- 
ment of  ecclesiastical  subjects  that  refer  in  any  way  to  the 
Catholic  Church  is  often  flippant  and  not  rarely  offensive.  Louis 
Napoleon  excites  his  anger  at  every  turn.  He  is  a  '  perjurer,' 
'  a  robber,'  and  '  a  thief.'  There  is  no  end  to  his  villainy.  Really 
anyone  who  writes  of  Napoleon  III.  as  Mr.  Paul  does  is  no  his- 
torian. He  is  a  furious  political  partisan.  He  cannot  suppress 
his  rage  ;  he  cannot  even  keep  it  under  decent  restraint. 

Another  victim  of  Mr.  Paul's  animosity  is  King  Ferdinand 
of  Naples — '  a  cruel  and  superstitious  bigot,'  whom  Gladstone 
denounced  so  fiercely  in  his  famous  letter  to  Lord  Aberdeen. 
But  what  Mr.  Paul  fails  to  note  is  the  fact  that  Lord  Palmerston, 


284  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


who  was  such  a  fiery  partisan  of  hberty  at  Naples  was  an  equally 
strenuous  defender  of  slavery  in  America,  and  that  the  man  who 
helped  so  powerfully  to  dethrone  King  Ferdinand  became  one 
of  the  props  of  the  Turkish  Empire  and  of  the  abominable  tyrant 
who  ruled  it.  It  is  really  laughable  to  read  all  this  humbug 
about  Naples  coming  from  men  who  supported  Sir  Robert  Peel's 
Coercion  Bill,  making  it  a  crime  to  appear  out  of  doors  after 
nightfall.  Talk  of  unfair  trials  !  Why,  these  very  men,  having 
carried  through  Parliament  a  Coercion  Bill  of  their  own,  took 
hold  of  their  political  opponents  without  any  trial  of  any  kind, 
threw  them  into  their  dungeons  wholesale,  made  them  herd  with 
criminals  of  the  deepest  dye,  made  them  sleep  on  the  plank-bed, 
degraded,  reviled,  and  defamed  them  ;  and  then  they  want  us  to 
take  them  seriously  when  they  talk  of  tyranny  at  Naples  and  tell  us 
that  it  was  the  pure  fire  of  liberty  burning  within  their  bosoms 
that  made  them  attack  King  '  Bomba.'  King  Ferdinand  cer- 
tainly did  many  things  that  were  severe  and  that  will  not  stand 
the  test  of  humanity  ;  but  at  least  he  did  not  make  merry  over 
the  sufferings  of  his  victims.  He  did  not  jeer  at  Poerio's 
'  breeches.'  He  did  not  publicly  declare  that  his  policy  was  to 
exterminate  a  million  of  his  subjects  and  give  the  remainder 
twenty  years  of  '  resolute  government.'  He  did  not  grind  his 
people  with  taxation  for  the  benefit  of  foreigners,  nor  stance 
their  intellects  unless  they  proved  traitors  to  their  faith. 

A  fine  specimen  of  British  grandeur  is  noted  in  the  case  of 
Lord  Clarendon  who  was  Lord  Lieutenant  of  Ireland  in  1850. 
'  He  had  no  sympathy  with  Irishmen,  or  with  Catholics  ;  but  he 
was  inflexibly  just,  and  his  conduct  in  removing  Lord  Roden,  the 
leader  of  the  Orange  party  in  the  North,  from  the  Commission  of 
the  Peace  for  encouraging  the  turbulent  procession  at  Dolly's 
Brae  met  with  almost  universal  approval.'  What  a  magnani- 
mous statesman  !  And  what  wonderful  impartiality  that  the 
hero  of  Dolly's  Brae  was  not  allowed  to  administer  justice  to 
the  Catholics  of  Ulster !  For  similar  conduct  a  Catholic  magis- 
trate would  have  been  transported  to  Botany  Bay.  Lord  Roden 
was  deprived  of  the  Commission  of  the  Peace  ;  and  the  statesman 
who  had  the  courage  to  take  such  vigorous  action  is  commended 
by  a  British  Radical  historian  of  the  twentieth  century  ! 

Accounting  for  the  sympathies  of  Englishmen  in  the  struggle 
between  Russia  and  Turkey  which  eventuated  in  the  Crimean 
War,  Mr.  Paul  says  ; — '  They  saw  a  great   power  bullying  a 


NOTICES  OF  BOOKS 


285 


small  one ;  and  their  sympathies  went  where  the  natural 
sympathies  of  Englishmen  always  go.'  After  all  there  is 
nothing  like  impartiality,  even  when  you  are  compelled  to  do 
justice  to  yourself.  If  you  do  not  blow  your  own  horn,  who 
will  blow  it  for  you  ? 

The  spirit  of  chivalry  may  have  departed  from  other  lands  ; 
but  it  is  at  least  a  consolation  to  know  that  it  still  hovers  over 
Britain.  Other  countries  may  indulge  their  Chauvinism  and 
Fatherlandism  ;  we,  like  Anacharsis  Clootz,  stand  up  for  man- 
kind. 

With  all  his  Jingoism,  however,  Mr.  Paul  is  a  very  attractive 
writer  and  his  two  volumes  are  well  worth  reading.  He  may 
not  be  able  to  extricate  himself  from  inherited  prejudice  and  the 
influence  of  environment  and  tradition  :  but  his  greatest  faults 
are  redeemed  by  a  sprightly  wit,  an  ardour  that  is  refreshing,  a 
sincerity  that  leaves  no  room  for  doubt,  a  go  and  earnestness 
that  are  communicative,  and  a  style  that  for  not  being  classic 
is  none  the  less  captivating.  There  is  not  a  dull  page  in  the  two 
volumes.  Catholics  will  find  much  in  them  that  must  be  dis- 
counted. Irishmen  will  find  a  great  deal  that  will  provoke  a  not 
unfriendly  smile.  We  cannot  recommend  them  to  the  general 
reader  ;  but  educated  Catholics  may  read  them  with  pleasure 
and  with  profit. 

J.  F.  H. 

Gospels  of  the  Sundays  and  Festivals.  By  Rev.  C. 
Ryan.  Two  Vols.  Dublin  :  Browne  &  Nolan,  Ltd. 
1904. 

Every  priest  entrusted  with  the  care  of  souls  knows  the 
value  of  a  good  commentary  on  those  portions  of  Holy  Writ 
which  most  frequently  form  the  subject  of  his  sermons.  Year 
after  year  it  is  his  duty  and  privilege  to  explain  the  words  of 
his  Divine  Master,  to  put  before  the  faithful  the  great  truths  of 
salvation  :  the  obvious  reason  for  the  Church's  law  being,  that 
in  the  Gospels  these  truths  are  inculcated  as  nowhere  else  in 
Scripture.  Hence  the  prominent  place  assigned  them  in  the 
mental  and  moral  training  of  the  young  ecclesiastic. 

But  though  in  his  college  course  he  studied  the  Gospels  with 
all  due  attention,  it  may  easily  happen  that  before  beginning 
to  prepare  his  Sunday  discourse  the  priest  feels  a  desire  to  re- 
fresh his  knowledge  respecting  some  word  or  phrase  or  locality  or 
event.    In  the  midst  of  missionary  work  he  may,  however,  be 


286  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


unable  to  secure  time  for  prolonged  study,  or  on  the  other  hand 
he  may  find  that  the  familiar  class-book,  though  admirably 
adapted  to  its  own  end,  or  rather  because  so  admirably  suited, 
is  not  exactly  what  he  wants  at  present.  Hence  the  need  of 
what  may  be  called  a  preacher's  commentary,  designed  and 
executed  for  the  special  work  in  hand.  A  great  authority  has 
said  that  definiteness  is  the  preacher's  virtue,  and  the  remark 
applies  to  every  work  written  for  the  preacher's  use. 

The  author  of  the  present  commentary,  Father  Ryan,  who 
was  for  many  years  Professor  of  Scripture  in  Clonliffe  College, 
Dublin,  has  had  ample  opportunity  of  knowing  the  wishes  and 
the  needs  of  ecclesiastical  students.  Added  to  this,  his  paro- 
chial experience  has  enabled  him  to  give  to  his  work  a  practical 
character  that  is  rarely  to  be  met  with.  It  would  be  difficult 
to  find  an  equally  good  book  on  the  subject;  indeed,  so  far  as 
we  know,  there  is  none  to  be  found  in  English.  Its  plan  may  be 
briefly  described  here.  First,  the  Greek  text  and  the  Vulgate 
version  are  placed  in  parallel  columns.  Then  comes  the  Douay 
or  an  English  translation.  In  case  the  Sunday  Gospel  has  else- 
where a  passage  or  passages  parallel  to  it  Father  Ryan  gives  them, 
and  adds  what  he  calls  a  '  Combined  Narrative.'  This  is,  we  ven- 
ture to  think,  one  of  the  most  useful  and  original  parts  of  the 
entire  work.  As  regards  both  the  learned  Introduction  and  the 
Notes,  suffice  it  to  say  that  they  are  copious  and  clear.  If  we 
may  select  a  few  specimens  and  direct  our  readers'  attention  to 
them,  the  explanation  of  the  dogmatic  bearing  of  the  Gospel  of 
the  third  Mass  on  Christmas  Day  (vol.  i.,  p.  75,  ff.),  and  of  the 
difficult  text  (St.  John  xiv.  28)  in  the  Gospel  for  Whit-Sunday, 
seem  worthy  of  special  notice.  This  remark  applies  also  to  the 
harmonizing  of  statements  apparently  contradictory,  an  all- 
important  matter  to  which  minute  and  unremitting  attention 
has  evidently  been  devoted.  Instances  of  it  may  be  found  in 
vol.  i.,  pp.  233,  334,  and  Gospel  for  Easter,  p.  327,  ff.  Father 
Ryan  has  neglected  nothing  that  could  enhance  the  value  of 
his  work,  every  available  source  of  information  has  been  con- 
sulted, and  the  results  of  his  wide  reading  are  given  so  concisely 
that  it  is  a  pleasure  to  read  his  book. 

We  heartily  recommend  it,  and  we  trust  that  its  circulation 
may  correspond  to  its  merit. 

R.  W. 


NOTICES  OF  BOOKS 


287 


In  Paths  of  Peace.  By  Lily  E.  F.  Barry.  With  Illustra- 
tions by  A.  G.  Racey.  London  :  Burns  &  Oates.  Price 
2S,  6d. 

This  volume  consists  of  a  series  oi  short  essays,  or  mono- 
graphs, on  various  subjects  of  a  literary,  moral,  social,  and 
domestic  character.  They  were  originally  published  in  an 
American  magazine,  and  now  appear  in  book  form  for  the  first 
time.  The  authoress  is  possessed  of  a  keen  philosophic  way  of 
looking  at  things,  so  that  each  little  sketch  is  the  outcome  of 
deep  and  studied  thought,  and,  consequently,  affords  very  whole- 
some reading  of  a  practical  kind.  She  discusses  such  topics  as 
'  Self-Restraint,'  '  The  Power  of  Kind  Words,'  '  Hospitality,' 
*  Heroism  in  Small  Things,'  etc.,  and  what  she  has  to  say  on  these 
and  kindred  matters  is  well  worth  reading. 

The  writing  is  vigorous,  and  the  style  is  both  graceful  and 
attractive.  The  book  might  be  used  with  advantage  by  those 
who  have  to  do  with  the  formation  and  training  of  youthful 
minds.  In  fact,  all  who  are  desirous  to  know  the  true  dignity 
and  value  of  life,  and  to  live  up  to  their  knowledge,  will  profit 
by  its  advice  in  many  things. 

Aphorismi  Eucharistici.  Opera  Jacobi  Merlo-Horstii, 
denuo  edidit,  Jos.  Aloysius  Kerbs,  C.SS.R.  Ratisbon, 
Rome,  New  York  :  Pustet.  1902. 

We  have  much  pleasure  in  bringing  under  the  notice  of  the 
clergy  this  beautiful  little  book  of  devotion  for  priests,  by  the 
famous  author  of  the  Paradisus  Animae.  It  is  a  collection  of 
the  choicest  utterances  of  the  Fathers  and  approved  ascetical 
writers  on  the  Holy  Sacrifice  of  the  Mass,  intended  to  inflame 
the  piety  and  increase  the  reverence  of  those  who  are  privileged 
to  ascend  the  altar.  The  late  Cardinal  Manning  often  said  that 
'  the  Paradisus  Animae'  of  Horstius,  was,  with  the  Imitation  of 
Christ,  amongst  the  greatest  books  of  devotion  ever  written. 

Other  works  of  the  same  author,  such  as  the  Viaticum  Qtioti- 
dianum  Hominis  Christianae,  and  the  Monita  Sapientiae  Chris- 
tianae,  have  served  as  guides  to  some  of  the  holiest  and  best  men 
that  ever  lived.  In  this  little  volume  we  have  the  pia 
monita  of  the  celebrant.  The  chapters  are  headed,  '  Dignitas 
Sacerdotii  et  Sacrificii,'  '  Praeparatio  Missae  Praemittenda,' 
'  Puritas  et  Sanctitas  Requisita,'  '  Probatio  Sui  Ipsius  ante 


288  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


Missam,'  '  Excitanda  Fides  et  Devotio,'  '  Pura  et  Sancta  Intentio 
Celebrantis,'  '  Compositio  Corporis  et  Animae,'  '  Gratiarum 
Actio,'  '  Frequens  Celebratio  Missae,'  '  Effectus  Sacrificii,' 
'  Praxis  Pie  Celebrandi.'  At  the  end  the  official  and  indul- 
genced  prayers  before  and  after  Mass  are  given  together  v;ith  the 
Litanies. 

There  are,  of  course,  many  books  of  devotion  of  this  kind 
in  use  at  the  present  day.  Of  this  one  we  will  only  say  that  it 
is  admirably  suited  for  its  purpose,  not  too  long  or  too  diffuse, 
convenient  in  size  and  well  printed.  Fortunate  are  the  priests 
who  will  read  a  chapter  of  it  before  and  after  Mass. 

J-  F-  H. 

Monasteries  and  Religious  Houses  of  Great  Britain 
AND  Ireland.    By  F.  M.  Steele.   Washbourne.  1903. 

This  work  is  a  popular  account  of  the  religious  congregations 
and  communities  in  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  and  despite  the 
interesting  explanation  to  which  we  are  treated  in  the  Introduc- 
tion, we  should  have  preferred  that  the  title  of  the  book  had 
been  a  little  more  exact.  For  those  who  wish  to  learn  something 
about  the  religious  communities  in  these  countries,  and  who  have 
no  opportunity  of  consulting  the  more  exhaustive  accounts,  this 
work  will  prove  exceedingly  useful.  The  sketches  of  the  different 
bodies,  though  necessarily  brief,  are  accurate,  and,  as  far  as 
possible,  complete.  The  publishers  are  to  be  congratulated, 
especially  on  the  '  Illustrations '  of  the  habits  of  the  different 
communities. 

■  ■    !      :  •  '  J.  MacC. 

[A  New  York  correspondent  informs  ns  that  the  Dr.  Mooney 
referred  to  in  a  recent  number  of  our  periodical  in  connection 
with  altar  wine  is  itot  Mgr.  Mooney,  Vicar-General  of  New  York, 
but  a  distinguished  Catholic  layman  now  no  more.  We  gladly 
make  the  correction. — Ed.  I.  E.  Record.] 


SIR  HORACE  PLUNKETT'S  LECTURE 


THE  Irish  Catholic  clergy  have  had  many  oppor- 
tunities during  the  past  hundred  years  of  seeing 
themselves  as  others  see  them.  Their  critics  have 
been  as  busily  engaged,  as  inquisitorial,  as  con- 
fidential with  the  public,  as  they  have  been  numerous  and 
varied.  If  there  remains  a  microscopic  defect  in  our  character 
that  has  not  been  thrown  upon  the  screen  and  specially  mag- 
nified for  the  edification  of  the  world  and  for  our  own  reproof 
and  correction  we  may  rest  assured  that  it  will  not  long  lie 
hidden,  seeing  the  number  and  the  eagerness  of  the  explorers 
who  are  in  search  of  it.  The  activity  of  these  investigators 
during  the  past  few  years  has  been  truly  prodigious  ;  and 
if  we  have  hitherto  taken  but  little  notice  of  their  exertions 
it  is  because  we  were  of  opinion,  with  Dean  Swift,  that — 

The  most  effectual  way  to  baulk 
Their  malice  is  to  let  them  talk. 

Frank  Hugh  O'Donnell,^  Filson  Young,^  George  Moore,^ 
W.  J.  M.  Starkie,*  M.  J.  F.  M'Carthy,^  Professor  Tyrrell,^ 
R.  J.  Smith,^  have  in  turn  given  us  the  benefit  of  their 


'  The  Ruin  of  Education  in  Ireland. 

2  Ireland  at  the  Cross  Roads. 

3  The  Untilled  Field 

*  Paper  read  before  the  British  Associition  in  Belfast. 
'  Five  Years  in  Ireland.    Priests  and  People. 
°  The  famous  Sonnet. 
'  Ireland's  Renaissance. 


FOURTH  SBRIIS,  YOL,  XV. — APRIL,  I9O4. 


T 


290  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


vast  experience  and  of  their  unrivalled  stpres  of  know- 
ledge and  virtue.  Their  wisdom  has  been  acquired  in 
regions  of  philosophic  calm  to  which  the  clergy,  of  course, 
have  no  access.  The  restricted  horizon  that  limits  our  outlook 
and  the  clouded  atmosphere  through  which  we  move  are, 
of  themselves,  sufficient  to  keep  us  out  of  court.  The 
short-comings  of  Christianity  escape  our  narrow  vision, 
and  the  hopeless  dishonesty  and  selfishness  of  its  expounders 
are  brought  home  so  clearly  to  our  doors  that  we  need  not 
even  try  to  divest  ourselves  of  the  responsibility  they  entail. 
And  so  without  any  earthly  motive  except  that  of  doing  a 
public  service  and  setting  the  country  right,  these  comrades 
so  strangely  allied  and  so  curiously  assorted  have  taken  the 
field  against  us,  and  have  concentrated  upon  us  the  deadly 
fire  of  their  batteries. 

Of  Mr.  Frank  Hugh  O'Donnell  we  do  not  wish  to  write 
an  unkindly  word.  We  can  make  many  allowances  for  the 
aberrations  and  eccentricities  of  gemus.  We  do  not  quite 
forget  the  eloquence  of  other  days.  We  have  still  some  recol- 
lection of  the  embassy  of  Challemel  Lacour  and  of  the  fourth 
centenary  of  Martin  Luther.  We  can  forgive  him  a  good 
deal  for  the  grandeur  of  his  conceptions  and  the  Olympian 
range  of  his  imagination.  What  could  be  finer,  for  instance, 
than  his  comparison  of  Maynooth  College  to  the  great 
Phanar  of  Constantinople — the  great  light-house  in  which, 
under  the  shadow  of  tlie  Crescent,  the  Greeks  were  edu- 
cated— those  Phanariots  who  became  the  virtual  rulers  of 
an  empire,  the  merchant  princes  of  European  cities  from 
Odessa  to  Marseilles,  the  agents  and  ultimately  the  founders 
of  Grecian  liberty  ?  Above  all,  we  cannot  forget  that  Mr. 
O'Donnell  was  at  one  time  a  very  orthodox  and  edifying 
contributor  to  our  own  pages,  in  which  he  stigmatised  with 
proper  epithets  the  opponents  of  clerical  and  monastic  life 
on  the  continent  of  Europe. 

As  Mr.  Filson  Young  looks  upon  all  religions  from  the 
standpoint  of  an  impartial  outsider,  and  as  he  is  graciously 
pleased  to  consent  that  we  should  be  tolerated,  what  can 
we  do  but  make  our  humble  acknowledgments  and  thank 
our  stars  that  after  having  survived  the  Penal  Laws  we 


SIR  HORACE  PLUNKETT'S  LECTURE  2QI 


are  not  to  be  extinguished  by  a  correspondent  of  the 
Daily  Mail  ? 

To  have  been  tried  and  found  wanting  both  in  faith 
and  morals  by  Mr.  George  Moore  is,  indeed,  a  sad  reproach, 
coming  from  such  a  high  authority  ;  but  tried  by  so  severe 
a  test  how  could  we  expect  any  other  result  ? 

Of  Dr.  Starkie  we  have  already  said  our  say  ;  and  we 
may  safely  leave  him  to  carry  out  the  organisation  of  the 
National  Board. 

Nobody,  we  fancy,  will  expect  us  to  waste  words  or 
space  on  Mr.  M'Carthy,  whose  works  are  pretty  sure  to 
recoil  on  their  author,  if  they  have  not  done  so  already, 
without  any  help  from  us.  But  is  not  Mr.  M'Carthy  a 
'  Catholic  '  product  of  Trinity  College  ?  .^nd  what  more 
striking  justification  than  his  performance  could  be  offered 
of  the  attitude  of  the  Catholic  body  generally  towards  the 
establishment  that  has  given  him  to  the  world  ?  With 
four  or  five  hundred  M'Carthys  scattered  up  and  down 
through  the  country  what  a  pleasant  island  this  would  be 
for  Catholics  to  live  in  !  And  how  nice  and  considerate  of 
the  Trinity  College  authorities  to  invite,  through  His  Emin- 
ence Cardinal  Logue,  the  Catholic  youth  of  Ireland  within 
the  portals  where  so  sweet  and  amiable  a  character  has  been 
formed.  Here  is  truly  one  of  the  advantages  of  Catholics 
and  Protestants  resorting  to  the  same  mart  of  learning  and 
drinking  at  the  same  pure  fountain  of  knowledge.  The 
most  phenomenal  thing  about  Mr.  M'Carthy  and  his  cam- 
paign, however,  is  the  eagerness  with  which  his  effusions 
were  taken  up  and  disseminated  by  a  section  of  our  Pro- 
testant fellow-countrymen.  We  had  no  conception  until 
then  of  how  strong  a  place  the  old  Adam  held  amongst 
them  still. 

We  had  thought,  nevertheless,  that  the  campaign  was 
dying  its  natural  death  when  out  came  Professor  Tyrrell 
with  his  sonnet,  like  Dame  Partington  with  her  broom,  to 
sweep  back  the  tide  of  Catholic  revival.  We  had  been  con- 
tending that  it  was  within  the  historic  precincts  of  the 
institution  Professor  Tyrrell  so  worthily  represents  that  the 
degradation  of  our  Church  and  faith  was  callously  planned 


292 


THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


and  fiercely  instigated  in  former  days,  and  that,  although 
it  has  lost  a  good  deal  of  its  power  in  recent  times,  its  spirit 
is  but  little  changed.  Professor  Tyrrell  has  come  forward 
of  his  own  accord  to  confirm  this  view.  He  has  rendered 
us  a  service  and  we  tender  him  our  thanks. 

It  would  not,  perhaps,  be  courteous  to  pass  over,  even 
in  such  a  brief  review  as  this,  Mr.  R.  J.  Smith  on  Ireland's 
Renaissance.  Mr.  Smith  has  also  weighed  us  in  very  deli- 
cate scales  specially  invented  by  himself,  and  in  many 
respects  has  found  the  balance  against  us.  It  is  pleasant, 
however,  to  be  assured  that  we  are  not  quite  hopeless  and 
that  if  we  only  follow  the  canons  of  conduct  he  lays  down 
for  us  we  may  yet  redeem  some  at  least  of  our  deficiencies.^ 

It  is,  on  the  whole,  a  considerable  relief  to  turn  from 
the  class  of  literature  we  have  thus  briefly  indicated  to 
the  work  of  Sir  Horace  Plunkett,^  which  is  now  before  us. 
Here,  at  least,  we  have  a  man  whose  practical  services  to 
the  country  entitle  him  to  a  hearing,  and  whose  views  are 
communicated  in  a  style  so  clear  and  in  language  so  mode- 
rate and  dispassionate,  that  whether  we  agree  with  him  or 
not  we  can  always  listen  to  him  with  interest  and  differ 
from  him  with  candour  and  good  feeling  equal  to  his  own. 
He  is  in  every  respect  far  abler,  deeper,  more  refined,  and 
more  judicial  than  the  reformers  mentioned  above.  The 
earnestness  with  which  he  has  addressed  himself  to  the 
problems  discussed  in  his  book  commands  our  admiration, 
and  his  evident  desire  to  be  courteous  and  impersonal  even 
when  most  critical  and  aggressive  give  him  no  small  claim 
to  reciprocity.  Praise  and  blame,  it  must  also  be  acknow- 
ledged, are  not  confined  to  one  side  or  the  other.  We 
should  be,  indeed,  by  no  means  unwilling  to  take  in  good 
part  his  criticism  of  ecclesiastical  policy  and  conduct  were 
we  satisfied  that  his  elaborate  programme  was  not  con- 
ceived— honestly  and  pleasantly  conceived — outlined  and 
planned  with  a  far  seeing  eye  to  an  achievement  which 
does  not  quite  commend  itself  to  our  acceptance.  Not 


*  We  hope  to  get  some  of  Mr.  Smith's  peculiar  theories  dealt  with  in  the 
near  future. 

'  Ireland  in  the  New  Century. 


SIR  HORACE  PLUNKETT'S  LECTURE  293 


being  so  satisfied  we  can  scarcely  be  expected  to  offer 
him  much  sympathy  in  his  distress.  No  one  will  have  any 
difficulty  in  recognising  the  individual  the  author  has  in 
liis  mind  when,  speaking  of  the  apathy  and  indifference  of 
Irish  Unionists  to  the  welfare  of  their  country,  he  says  : — 

Now  and  again  an  individual  tries  to  broaden  the  basis  of 
his  Unionism,  and  to  bring  himself  into  touch  with  the  life  of 
the  people.  But,  the  nearer  he  gets  to  the  people  the  farther 
he  gets  from  the  Irish  Unionist  leaders.  The  lot  of  such  an 
individual  is  not  a  happy  one  ;  he  is  regarded  as  a  mere  intruder, 
who  does  not  know  the  rules  of  the  game,  and  he  is  treated  by 
the  leading  players  on  both  sides  like  a  dog  in  a  tennis  court. 
—(Page  64.) 

Finally,  we  recognise  with  pleasure  that  there  is  not  in 
Sir  Horace  Plunkett's  volume  much  trace  of  the  arrogant 
and  domineering  tone  which  less  competent  and  less  expe- 
rienced authorities  think  themselves  so  freely  at  liberty  to 
adopt  in  their  disquisitions  on  the  problems  of  Irish  life, 
and  particularly  in  their  lectures  to  the  Catholic  clergy. 

Having  said  so  much  we  must  candidly  confess  that, 
with  the  best  will  in  the  world,  our  stock  of  praise,  apart 
from  some  details  in  the  last  two  chapters,  will  not  carry 
us  much  farther.  For  if  anyone  imagines  that  he  is  going  to 
find  in  this  volume  evidence  of  any  transcendental  impar- 
tiality or  of  any  profound  political  or  economic  wisdom  he  will 
not  need  much  reflection  to  convince  him  that  he  has  been 
grievously  mistaken.  We  feel,  indeed,  quite  justified  m 
going  a  step  further,  and  saying  that  this  volume  involves 
its  author  in  such  hopeless  contradictions  and  reveals  so 
curious  an  attitude  of  mind  towards  church  and  country 
that  confidence  in  him,  and  co-operation  with  the  Depart- 
ment over  which  he  presides,  wiU  not,  to  say  the  least  of  it, 
be  improved  by  its  publication. 

In  the  first  three  chapters  we  recognise  a  good  deal  that 
is  true  and  a  good  deal  that  is  half  true  mingled  with  things 
that  are  on  the  face  of  them  childish  and  absurd.  It 
is  rather  late  in  the  day  to  be  talking  to  us  now  of  the  tribal 
system  and  the  clan,  as  if,  whilst  Englishmen  had  out- 
grown the  heptarchy,  the  democratic  Irish  were  still 
hankering  after  tanistry  and  gavel-kind. 


294  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


Then  >,  we  are'^told'^that  five  or  six  millions  a  year  in 
agricultural  rent  would  not  be  missed  out  of  the  pockets 
of  Irish  farmers  if  only  they  had  the  moral  fibre  and  the 
civic  virtue  of  Scotchmen  and  Englishmen  to  build  up  a 
fortune  for  themselves.  Sir  Horace  Plunkett  knows  per- 
fectly well  that  before  Gladstone  lifted  the  giant  load  off 
the  shoulders  of  the  Irish  farmer  industry  and  thrift,  far 
from  enabling  him  to  build  up  a  fortune,  too  often  only 
added  to  his  misery  when  he  saw  the  fruits  of  both  one 
and  the  other  wrested  from  his  hands.  What  industry 
could  flourish,  what  thrift  could  bear  fruit  in  such  condi- 
tions ?  For  it  is  no  exaggeration  to  say,  that  taking  things  all 
in  all,  and  making  due  allowance  for  temporary  and  isolated 
exceptions,  the  system  of  government  and  of  land  administra- 
tion that  prevailed  since  the  Irish  Protestant  gentry  sold 
the  national  birthright  and  abandoned  their  country  in 
1800  became  a  huge  impediment  to  every  effort,  individual 
and  national,  that  made  for  material  progress.  Truly  has 
it  been  compared  to  the  serpents  in  Laocoon,  winding 
themselves  around  the  sinews  and  paralysing  the  limbs  of 
father  and  children  alike,  till  the  vital  energy  of  both  was 
well-nigh  exhausted.  What  is  the  use  of  telling  us  that 
five  or  six  millions  a  year  of  agricultural  rent  made  no 
difference  to  a  people  so  demoralised  and  impoverished  ? 
It  ma}^  indeed,  be  freely  admitted  that  the  amount  ex- 
tracted was  not  in  itself  so  disastrous  as  the  principle  on 
which  it  was  levied.  But  surely  the  extraction  of  six  millions 
a  year,  to  put  it  only  at  Sir  Horace  Plunkett's  estimate, 
from  a  people  whose  life-blood  had  been  drained  away 
through  so  many  other  channels,  was  enough  to  leave  the 
country  in  a  state  of  hopeless  inanition,  particularly  when 
so  large  a  share  of  the  amount  was  entirely  unproductive 
and  for  the  most  part  spent  in  foreign  lands.  Even  when 
the  first  relief  came  Irish  farmers  had  no  guarantee  that 
the  fruits  of  their  energy  would  be  made  secure  beyond  the 
term  of  fifteen  years. 

Now,  however,  that  the  '  blessed  deliverance '  is  at 
hand — we  know  at  what  a  cost — the  Irish  people  may  for  the 
first  time  take  heart  and  face  the  future  with  something 


SIR  HORACE  PLUNKETT'S  LECTURE  295 


of  the  self-reliant  spirit  that  has  been  so  freely  preached 
to  them  in  the  past.  Let  Sir  Horace  Plunkett  talk  of 
their  moral  fibre  and  civic  virtue  in  twenty  or  thirty  years, 
if  he  is  still  alive,  which  we  sincerely  hope  he  may  be. 
Already  he  bears  testimony  to  their  progressive  energy  in 
one  part  of  his  contradictory  book,  whilst  in  another  he 
dilates  on  their  apathy  and  lack  of  enterprise.  If  they 
have  made  such  strides  since  he  has  taken  them  in  hands 
under  a  system  of  partial  redemption  what  may  we  not 
expect  when  the  redemption  is  complete  ? 

With  the  purely  political  questions  discussed  by  Sii 
Horace  Plunkett  we  cannot  concern  ourselves  here.  It  is 
difficult,  at  the  same  time,  to  deal  with  his  book  without 
making  a  few  observations  on  the  academic  side  of  the 
issues  he  has  raised. 

All  through  the  book,  and  in  one  chapter  devoted  entirely 
to  the  subject,  the  author  contends  that  the  support  given 
to  the  Irish  representatives  in  Parliament,  and  the  reliance 
placed  on  their  efforts  to  promote  the  national  welfare, 
have  drawn  away  the  strength  and  resources  of  the  people 
from  a  far  more  profitable  investment  of  their  energy  and 
wealth.  He  contrasts  the  success  of  the  Protestants  of  the 
North  who  in  industry  and  business  rely  on  their  own  efforts, 
with  the  backwardness  of  the  South  where  Catholics  have 
devoted  themselves  so  closely  to  politics  ;  and  he  considers 
it  essential  for  the  future  progress  of  the  country  that 
politics  and  politicians  should  henceforth  be  measured  at 
their  real  value,  which  is  not  very  much,  and  that  the  chief 
efforts  of  the  people  should  be  directed  to  the  promotion 
of  agriculture  and  industry  and  the  development  of  a 
sound  and  practical  national  life.  We  must  leave  to  others 
to  say  whether  or  not  they  regard  this  programme  as 
vitiated  in  the  intention  ;  and  how  far,  amongst  similar 
things,  the  Protestants  of  this  country,  whether  North  or 
South,  have  been  left  to  their  unaided  exertions.  For  our 
own  part  we  hold  that  the  political  efforts  of  our  repre- 
sentatives have  secured  for  us  blessings  which  no  gold 
could  purchase,  and  which  are  not  to  be  measured  by  any 
standard  that  Sir  Horace  Plunkett  seems  to  value.  They 


296  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


have,  moreover,  laid  the  foundation  of  whatever  happiness 
or  prosperity  we  may  hope  for  in  the  future.  They  have 
done  this,  too,  not  only  for  us  but  for  a  large  section  of 
those  Protestants  in  the  North  who,  with  all  their  moral 
courage  and  in  spite  of  the  premium  placed  on  their  Pro- 
testantism and  the  bounty  on  their  opposition  to  the 
majority  of  their  countrymen,  have  not,  with  a  few  excep- 
tions, so  very  much  to  boast  of  in  the  way  of  temporal 
prosperity.  Nor  do  we  see  any  reason  why  antagonism 
should  be  fomented  between  the  Gaehc  League,  the  County 
Councils,  or  any  other  representative  bodies  and  the  men 
whom  the  people  have  chosen  to  represent  them  in  a  different 
capacity  and  in  a  different  field.  If  they  are  wrong  in  their 
estimate  of  the  political  strength  they  have  acquired  it  is 
strange  how  many  there  are  who  are  willing  to  relieve  them 
of  it. 

If,  in  the  universal  experience  of  the  world,  the  ordinary 
affairs  of  a  nation's  life  are  managed  more  satisfactorily  by 
its  own  people  than  by  outsiders,  and  if,  as  in  the  case  of 
the  land,  the  fruits  of  national  economy  are  to  be  the  reward 
of  the  efforts  of  those  who  produced  them,  who  can  blame 
the  Irish  people  if  they  think  their  harvest  will  be  more 
secure  in  their  own  possession  than  in  the  guardianship  of 
the  great  absentee  ?  And  as  long  as  they  are  convinced 
that  they  have  not  yet  secured  the  corner  stone  of  the 
edifice  that  is  to  give  them  shelter  and  comfort,  why  should 
they  not  make  a  strenuous  effort  to  acquire  it  ?  If,  more- 
over, they  think  there  is  a  much  better  chance  of  reconcilia- 
tion with  the  minority  of  their  countrymen  and  of  a  friendly 
and  permanent  understanding  with  their  powerful  neighbours 
by  following  the  course  they  have  adopted  rather  than  any 
other,  why  should  they  not  make  that  settlement,  which 
they  regard  as  the  remedy  for  great  evils  as  well  as  for  little 
ones,  the  object  of  their  most  ardent  pursuit  and  set  their 
faces  with  determination  against  a  system  which  no  English- 
man advocates  for  any  civilised  country  but  Ireland,  and  no 
Irishman  for  any  country  but  his  own.  Sir  Horace  Plunkett 
is  of  opinion  that  the  achievement  of  this  purpose  is  impos- 
sible and  useless.    His  countrymen,  we  have  no  doubt,  will 


SIR  HORACE  PLUNKETT'S  LECTURE  297 


give  due  consideration  to  his  words  and  judge  for  them- 
selves whether  he  speaks  as  a  wise  man  and  a  prophet  or 
rather  as  the  representative  of  the  very  spirit  he  condemns. 
Very  few  of  them,  we  think,  will  be  converted  from  the 
error  of  their  ways  by  Sir  Horace  Plunkett's  reasoning.  In 
the  meantime  there  is  assuredly  nothing  to  prevent  him  and 
all  other  men  of  good-will  from  helping  the  Gaelic  League 
and  pushing  forward  the  work  of  his  Department  without 
seeking  to  turn  either  one  or  the  other  into  machines  for 
the  subversion  of  a  policy  on  which  his  advice  is  not  very 
eagerly  sought. 

The  County  Councils,  and  other  popular  bodies  whom  he 
lectures  on  their  meddling  in  politics,  may  well  i^etort  : 
Medice,  cura  teipsum.    Nobody  is  so  foolish  as  to  think 
that  the  opportunities  of  advancement  that  exist  should 
not  be  availed  of  to  the  fall,  or  that  any  of  the  other  ele- 
ments of  a  healthy  and  progressive  national  existence 
should  be  neglected  or  made  to  suffer.    But  as  long  as  it 
takes  fifty  years  of  harassing  agitation  to  remedy  the  most 
patent  defects  in  the  machinery  of  progress,  and  as  long 
as  you  cannot  get  a  policeman  who  makes  himself  a  nuis- 
ance in  an  Irish  village  removed  from  the  scene  of  his 
mischief  unless  you  cross  the  stormy  sea  and  find  some  means 
of  setting  the  great  imperial  engine  in  motion,  so  long  will 
Irishmen  endeavour  at  whatsoever  cost  to  secure  an  engine 
of  their  own,  and  provide  for  themselves  those  instruments 
of  progress  that  prove  so  serviceable  in  other  lands.  Sir 
Horace  Plunkett  thinks  that  even  if  this  were  desirable 
our  countrymen  are  going  the  wrong  way  about  it,  and 
should  approach  the  English  people  in  a  very  different 
spirit  from  that  which  they  have  manifested  in  recent 
years.    But  when  the  English  people  were  approached  in 
a^friendly  spirit,  and  a  great  English  statesman  whispered 
sorhething  about  a  '  union  of  hearts,'  we  wonder  who  it 
was  that  stirred  up  the  passions  of  centuries  and  laughed 
to  scorn  the  '  great  reconciliation  '  which  all  Christian  men 
should  welcome  ? 

Mr.   Bryce,  in  his  History  of  the  American  Coymnon- 
wealth,  tells  us  with  what  jealousy  the  States  of  the  Union 


298  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


bargained  for  their  local  autonomy  at  the  Convention  of 
Philadelphia  in  1775,  and  everyone  knows  with  what  care 
the  petty  states  of  the  German  Empire  safeguarded  their 
local  rights  when  they  definitely  entered  the  great  Con- 
federation in  1871.  It  is  not  alone  Bavaria,  Wurtemburg, 
Saxony  that  retain  their  local  administration,  but  Baden, 
Hesse,  Saxe-Coburg  and  Gotha,  and  little  places  like 
Anhalt,  Oldenburg,  Saxe- Weimar,  have  their  parliaments 
and  their  practical  independence.  Even  in  Alsace-Lorraine 
the  wishes  of  the  people  are  consulted  through  the  '  Landes- 
Ausschuss.'^'' 

We  are  not  politicians  and,  perhaps,  do  not  tinder- 
stand  these  things  ;  but  we  confess  it  does  look  strange 
to  us  that  what  is  regarded  as  the  palladium  of  right  and 
liberty  everywhere  else  should  be  looked  upon  in  Ireland 
merely  as  an  object  of  aversion  which  once  bartered  away 
is  not  worth  recovering.  It  is  necessary,  perhaps,  to  have 
one's  political  centre  of  gravity,  not  indeed  in  the  other 
world,  still  less  in  one's  own  unfortunate  country,  but  on 
the  other  side  of  the  channel,  in  order  to  see  these  things 
in  their  proper  light. 

But  it  is  in  the  chapter  on  '  The  Influence  of  Religion 
on  Secular  Life  in  Ireland '  that  Sir  Horace  Plunkett 
comes  most  directly  into  collision  with  the  Catholic  clergy. 

Apart  from  questions  of  fundamental  principle,  which  are 
serious  enough,  as  we  shall  see  later  on,  it  would  not  be  fair 
to  say  that  the  writer  of  this  chapter  makes  any  un- 
qualified attack  on  the  Catholic  religion  or  the  Catholic 
priesthood.  Faults  he  has  to  find  enough  and  to  spare  ; 
but  there  is  scarcely  any  fault  for  which  he  does  not  find 
some  excusing  cause  or  some  qualifying  explanation. 
Passages  taken  out  of  their  context  and  carried  away 
from  the  neighbourhood  of  other  passages  in  con- 
junction with  which  they  were  intended  to  be  read,  are 


The  '  Landes-Ausschuss,'  or  local  representative  Chamber  of  Alsace- 
Lorraine,  consists  of  58  elected  members,  13  from  Lower  Alsace,  10  from 
Upper  Alsace,  and  1 1  from  Lorraine  ;  and  24  members  from  the  four  towns  of 
Strasburg,  Miilhausen,  Metz,  and  Colmar.  See  Kursehner's  Siaatshandhnch, 
p.  483. 


SIR  HORACE  PLUNKETT'S  LECTURE  299 


liable  to  convey  a  false  impression  and  in  this  case  would, 
perhaps,  be  calculated  to  do  some  injustice  to  one  who, 
on  his  side,  has  evidently  made  an  effort  to  be  just.  His 
balancmg  may,  indeed,  leave  upon  you  the  impression  o^ 
one  who  is — 

Alike  reserved  to  blame  or  to  commend, 
A  timorous  foe  and  a  suspicious  friend  ; 

but  an  open  and  unqualified  attitude  of  hostility  is  the  last 
thing  it  indicates.  It  may  be,  indeed,  that  beneath  its 
mild  and  cautious  language  you  discover  something  you 
did  not  quite  expect  ;  but  in  these  days  even  mild  language 
is  something  for  which  we  may  be  thankful. 

Whilst,  therefore,  we  do  not  wish  to  class  Sir  Horace 
Plunkett  with  the  rabid  bigots  of  the  Orange  party,  or 
their  Catholic  allies  from  Trinity  College  and  the  Queen's 
Colleges,  it  is  nevertheless  true  that  with  many  excuses, 
qualifications,  and  apologies,  he  finds  himself  obliged  to 
admit  nearly  all  the  charges  made  against  us  by  these 
sympathetic  critics.  We  must  refer  our  readers  to  the 
book  itself  for  a  full  appreciation  of  this  chapter  ;  but  we 
do  not  think  it  can  be  regarded  as  unfair  if  we  take  up  here 
only  one  side  of  the  picture  and  deal  with  the  principal 
charges  he  makes  against  our  religion  and  ourselves. 

First  of  all  it  strikes  him  as  an  outsider  that  our  religion 
is  '  in  some  of  its  tendencies  non-economic  if  not  anti- 
economic' 

The  reliance  of  that  rehgion  on  authority,  its  repression  of 
individualism,  its  complete  shifting  of  what  I  may  call  the 
human  centre  of  gravity  to  a  future  existence,  to  mention  no 
other  characteristics — appear  to  me  calculated,  unless  supple- 
mented by  other  influences,  to  check  the  growth  of  the  qualities 
of  initiati\  e  and  self-reliance,  especially  amongst  a  people  whose 
lack  of  education  unfits  them  for  resisting  the  influence  of  what 
may  present  itself  to  such  minds  as  a  kind  of  fatalism  with 
resignation  as  its  paramount  virtue.    (Page  102.) 

If  Sir  Horace  Plunkett  has  a  taste  for  that  sort  of  con- 
troversy he  might  have  condescended  to  look  into  the 
works  of  Balmes"  or  Father  Young,!'''  ^^^d  tell  us  what  answer 


"  European  Civilization. 


'-'  Protestant  and  Catholic  Countriei  Compared. 


300 


THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


he  has  to  make  to  these  writers  on  the  subject  of  cehbacy 
and  Cathohcism  and  their  influence  on  civihzation  and 
prosperity.  If  he  was  not  prepared  to  do  that  it  can 
scarcely  be  considered  fair  that  he  should  utilize  the  position 
which  he  has  hitherto  held  with  the  good  will  of  Irish 
Catholics,  to  discredit  their  religion  and  themselves  in  the  eyes 
of  the  world.  That,  of  course,  may  not  have  been  his  inten- 
tion. He  speaks,  indeed,  with  diffidence,  and,  as  usual, 
qualifies  and  almost  withdraws  his  words  in  the  following 
passage  ;  but  his  words  are  on  record,  and  the  qualification 
does  not  blot  them  out. 

It  is  true,  of  course,  that  Catholics  do  not  look  on  wealth 
as  the  highest  good  either  of  individuals  or  of  nations.  It 
is  true  that  they  make  the  value  of  this  life  to  depend 
chiefly  on  its  relation  to  the  life  to  come.  Protestantism 
is,  on  the  other  hand,  utilitarian  and  worldly.  It  goes  on 
the  principle  that  as  this  world  is  the  best  we  have  any 
experience  of  we  should  make  the  most  of  it.  Catholics 
even  go  so  far  as  to  think  that  the  highest  and  most  perfect 
form  of  life  is  to  leave  all  this  world  can  offer  and  take  up 
the  cross  and  follow  the  footsteps  of  their  Master  in 
detachment  and  poverty.  To  Protestants  all  this  is  extra- 
vagance and  folly.  But  whilst  Catholics  maintain  that 
their  conception  of  life  is  founded  clearly  on  the  Gospel, 
and  that  the  Gospel  is  neither  '  uneconomic  or  anti- 
economic,'  they  also  believe  that  it  is  better  suited  than 
any  other  to  raise  up  and  to  maintain  a  strong,  pure,  and 
energetic  race.  They  believe,  moreover,  that  their  view  of 
things  is  justified  by  history  and  by  the  actual  condition 
of  the  world.  '  One  ounce  of  fact  is  worth  a  ton  of  theory,' 
says  Russell  Lowell ;  and  when  we  find  such  countries  as 
Belgium,  Westphalia,  and  Lombardy  putting  British  manu- 
factures out  of  their  own  market,  we  are  not  particularly 
alarmed  as  to  how  our  religion  looks  from  the  economic 
point  of  view  to  an  outsider  like  Sir  Horace  Plunkett. 

To  attribute  the  apathy  of  the  Irish  peasant  not  to  its 
natural  and  patent  cause,  but  to  a  resignation  which  is  in 
reality  a  kind  of  fatalism,  is  another  illustration  of  the 
autlior's  inability  or  unwillingness  to  face  realities.  To 


SIR  HORACE  PLUNKETT'S  LECTURE  301 


deprive  a  man  persistently  of  the  reward  of  his  labour  and 
then  to  ascribe  to  fatalism  the  fact  that  he  takes  the  world 
easy  is  rather  too  transparent.  No  matter  how  you  may 
wish  to  ignore  the  past  and  turn  your  face  to  the  future, 
habits  begotten  of  three  centuries  of  demoralisation  and 
oppression  cannot  be  got  rid  of  all  in  a  day. 

We  are  sorry  that  Sir  Horace  Plunkett  should  have 
thought  it  worthy  of  him  to  join  in  the  cry  that  has  been 
raised  against  the  building  of  churches  and  ecclesiastical 
dwelling-houses  by  people  from  whom  nothing  better  could 
be  expected.  We  should  have  thought  that  the  reply  of 
the  Bishop  of  Limerick  to  Professor  Tyrrell  and  his  sonnet, 
which  represented  the  general  opinion  of  Catholics  on  this 
subject,  would  have  been  enough  for  a  moderate  man  like 
the  author  of  Ireland  in  the  New  Century.  Everybody 
knows  that  there  are  in  each  province  in  Ireland  hundreds 
of  churches  built  under  the  shadow  of  the  Penal  Laws  which 
are  now  crumbling  to  decay  ;  and  yet  the  bishops  and  clergy 
will  not  undertake  to  replace  them  until  the  advent  of 
better  times.  Out  of  consideration  for  the  poor  they  think 
it  better  that  the  '  Old  chapels  '  should  stand  for  generations 
yet  to  come  ;  and  that  only  in  an  extreme  case,  when, 
owing  to  the  ravages  of  time,  the  threatening  ruin  of  an 
old  building  leaves  them  no  choice,  they  should  decide  to 
build  again.  This  decision  once  come  to  they  do  not  admit 
that  they  are  violating  any  economic  principle  in  erecting, 
once  and  for  all,  a  solid  and  suitable  structure.  In  some 
few  cases,  indeed,  the  sense  of  proportion  in  these  matters 
may  not  have  been  observed  ;  but  the  excess  can  scarcely 
be  said  to  constitute  any  serious  economic  crime. 

With  almost  all  that  Sir  Horace  Plunkett  says  about 
the  furniture  of  existing  churches  and  the  importation 
from  abroad  of  statues,  wood-carvings,  stained  glass,  and 
textile  ornaments,  we  are  in  entire  agreement.  We  cannot 
help  thinking  that,  speaking  generally,  what  tjie  country 
produces  is  more  acceptable  to  Almighty  God  in  His  temples, 
than  ornaments  imported  from  other  lands.  And  we  sin- 
cerely hope  that  with  improved  methods  in  technical  and 
artistic  education  it  may  soon  be  possible  to  get  in  this 


302  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


country  everything  that  could  fairly  be  required  for  the 
ornamentation  of  our  churches. 

Sir  Horace  Plunkett  is  shocked  at  the  number  of  costly 
and  elaborate  monastic  and  conventual  buildings  which 
have  recently  been  set  up  on  all  sides,  and  looks  upon 
their  inmates  as  belonging  to  the  '  unproductive  classes.' 
We  could  readily  agree  that  some  proportion  should  be 
observed  between  the  population  and  resources  of  any 
country  and  the  number  of  monastic  and  conventual 
establishments  that  would  be  a  benefit  to  it  and  not  a 
burden  ;  but  as  things  stand  the  last  country  in  the  world 
in  which  the  conventual  establishments  could  be  said  to 
be  a  burden  is  Ireland,  where  they  admittedly  give  the 
best  education  and  perform  works  of  charity  and  mercy 
which  may  jseem  '  unproductive'  to  those  who  dislike 
them,  but  to  unprejudiced  witnesses  are  not  so.  The  same 
may  be  said  of  the  Cliristian  Brothers,  and  we  know  of  no 
other  Order  that  is  on  the  increase  or  setting  up  any  build- 
ings worth  mentioning.  On  the  other  hand  we  know  that 
whilst  the  Protestant  Episcopalian  clergy  are  well  housed 
and  lodged,  mostly  at  the  public  expense,  by  the  arrange- 
ment made  at  the  time  of  Disestabhshment,  many  poor 
Catholic  priests  have  to  live  in  miserable  houses  or 
in  wretched  lodgings  where  they  can  barely  procure  the 
necessaries  of  life.  And  whilst  all  this  noise  is  made  about 
Catholic  church-building  and  religious  houses  the  fact  is 
lost  sight  of  that  a  large  section  of  the  Protestant  com- 
munity is  wasting  its  energy  in  a  fashion  that  must  strike 
anyone  who  has  eyes  to  see.  We  all  know  that  there  are 
numerous  towns  in  every  province  where  there  are  four  or 
five  thousand  inhabitants.  In  such  towns  you  find,  as  a 
rule,  one  Catholic  church  for  three  or  four  thousand  people  ; 
whilst  for  one  thousand  Protestants,  and  sometimes  less, 
you  have  not  only  a  Protestant  Episcopalian  church,  but 
half-a-dozen  conventicles  representing  various  sects  and 
communities  of  Protestants.  These  little  buildings  are,  in 
the  great  majority  of  cases,  the  reverse  of  artistic.  There 
is  nothing  in  the  least  educational  or  inspiring  about  them. 
They  are  certainly  not  anything  from  which  we  could  deam 


SIR  HORACE  PLUNKETT'S  LECTURE  30<^ 


a  lesson  in  any  respect.  But  they  have  to  be  maintained 
with  their  caretakers,  and  to  pay  rent  and  taxes,  and  sup- 
port a  clergyman  and  his  family.  This  is  all  very  hard  on 
the  poorer  class  of  Protestants  who  frequent  these  places, 
and  it  does  not  strike  an  outsider  as  being  based  on  any 
very  sound  principle  of  economy,  or  as  representing  a  par- 
ticularly economic  religion  ;  but  after  all  that  is  their  own 
affair.  If  they  want  such  luxuries,  let  them  have  them. 
Who  desires  to  interfere  with  them  ?  But  if  we  Catholics 
wish  to  spend  a  few  pounds  on  our  own  places  of  worship 
why  will  Protestants  not  show  us  a  little  toleration  and 
shout  so  loudly  that  this  money  would  be  much  better 
spent  on  a  bacon-factory  or  a  poultry-yard  ?  And  if  Sir 
Horace  Plunkett  thinks  that  secular,  municipal,  and  indus- 
trial buildings  are  neglected,  why  does  he  not  get  his 
friends  to  spend  on  them  some  proportionate  share  of  the 
;^ii2,ooo,ooo  for  the  production  of  which  the  moral  fihre, 
the  energy,  and  the  self-reliance  of  the  Irish  people  are  to 
be  mortgaged  for  the  next  sixty-eight  and  a  half  years  ? 
He  may  rely  upon  it  that  the  clergy  would  be  only  too  glad 
to  co-operate  in  any  such  project  with  the  '  natural  leaders  ' 
of  the  people,  if  these  leaders  would  only  give  the  lead  in 
their  own  walk  of  life,  and  do  something,  besides  talking 
and  preaching  to  others,  for  the  good  of  their  country. 

But  whatever  hesitation  Sir  Horace  Plunkett  may  have 
about  condemning  the  conventual  and  monastic  system  he 
has  none  whatever  in  assuring  us  that  '  the  competition 
of  celibates,  li-^/ing  in  community,  is  excessive  and  educa- 
tionally injurious.'  During  a  good  part  of  last  century 
there  were  many  places  in  Ireland  where  there  were  no 
classical  or  secondary  schools  except  those  conducted  by 
laymen.  Elderly  people  will  tell  you  that  in  their  time 
there  were  no  other  in  whole  counties.  Do  you  think  these 
poor  laymen,  who  struggled  so  bravely  in  those  dark  days 
to  keep  alive  the  torch  of  learning  amongst  the  people,  got 
any  assistance  or  any  countenance  whatever  from  the 
people  who  are  now  so  much  concerned  about  lay  teachers  ? 
Did  they  get  any  support  from  a  patenial  and  enlightened 
Government  ?    Did  the  great  territoriai  landlords,  ^with 


304  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


thirty  and  forty  thousand  acres  in  the  neighbourhood,  give 
a  penny  to  maintain  the  men  who  tried  so  hard  to  bring 
the  blessings  of  education  to  the  doors  of  the  poor  delvers 
on  their  properties  ?  No.  They  were  allowed  to  starve 
and  die  out,  and  the  people  would  have  been  left  in  hope- 
less ignorance  if  the  clergy  had  not  stepped  into  the  breach, 
and  helped  them  to  rise  above  the  condition  of  slaves,  and 
opened  up  to  them  the  way  to  professional  and  mercantile 
life.  These  men,  '  who  have  money  for  everything  except 
education,'  have  covered  the  country  with  secondary  schools 
which  they  have  provided  by  imposing  on  themselves  hard- 
ships and  privations  that  were  severe  almost  beyond  endur- 
ance, but  which  they  have  never  grudged  in  such  a  cause. 
There  is,  perhaps,  nothing  more  glorious  in  the  history  of 
the  Church  during  the  nineteenth  century  than  this  spectacle 
of  old  men,  grown  venerable  in  the  service  of  faith  and 
fatherland,  handing  over  for  the  education  and  advance- 
ment of  their  people,  the  savings  of  a  life-time,  and  of 
young  men  throbbing  with  life  and  energy,  depriving  them- 
selves of  the  most  primitive  comforts  and  putting  aside  all 
notion  of  those  pleasant  surroundings  to  which,  within 
modest  limits,  they  might  lawfully  aspire,  in  order  to  be 
able  to  contribute  to  the  same  noble  purpose. 

Now  that  the  schools  erected  through  such  sacrifices 
are  successful  and  flourishing  and  have  put  the  Protestant 
schools  out  of  court  in  public  competition,  with  all  their 
advantages  of  lay  teaching  and  enlightened  management, 
we  find  this  effort  made  to  cause  friction  between  the 
clergy  and  the  laity  of  our  Church  by  people  who  occupy 
public  positions  of  responsibility  and  trust.  We  are  con- 
vinced that  when  the  time  comes  to  settle  this  matter 
definitely  and  permanently  there  will  be  no  quarrel  between 
the  clergy  and  laity  of  Ireland.  The  more  lay  teachers, 
the  better  qualified  and  the  better  paid,  that  become  avail- 
able for  these  establishments  the  better  we  shall  be  pleased. 
But  in  the  meantime  Sir  Horace  Plunkett  and  all  others 
may  make  up  their  minds  that  these  teachers  will  not  be 
trained  in  nationless  or  godless  colleges,  but  in  a  university 
where  they  will  be  made  sensible  of  their  duties  both  to 
faith  and  country. 


Sir  HORACE  PLUNKETT'S  LECTURE 


Such  a  university  Sir  Horace  Plunkett  is  prepared  to 
give  us,  not  as  a  right  but  as  a  privilege,  and  he  would  not 
regards  as  '  bigots  '  those  who  would  refuse  it.  Well,  we 
are  much  obhged  ;  but  we  do  not  want  any  privilege  from 
him  or  anyone.  We  want  our  right  and  nothing  more,  and 
we  shall  be  satisfied  with  nothing  less.  To  tell  the  great 
majority  of  the  Irish  people  that  they  have  no  right  in 
their  own  country  to  a  system  of  higher  education,  to  which 
they  could  reconcile  their  consciences,  seems  to  us  a  very 
strange  message  from  a  man  who  evidently  wants  to  be 
regarded  as  moderate  and  liberal.  And  to  refuse  to  ac- 
knowledge as  bigots  those  who  deny  the  right  seems  equally 
strange.  If  the  conditions  were  reversed  for  a  moment  we 
wonder  whether  the  bigotry  would  become  apparent.  If 
even  a  majority  of  Catholics  in  Belgium  or  Canada  were 
to  act  on  this  principle,  would  they  be  bigoted  ?  If  an 
Irish  County  Council  got  control  of  funds  for  secondary 
education  and  refused  to  allocate  any  share  of  them  to 
the  Protestant  minority,  would  that  be  bigotry  ?  We 
know  pretty  well  what  answer  Sir  Horace  Plunkett 
would  give  to  the  question  :  but  what  right  have  Catholics 
to  draw  logical  conclusions  ?  Bigotry  is  what  Protestant 
economists  make  it,  and  not  what  the  whole  world  thinks 
it  is  and  should  be. 

As  Sir  Horace  Plunkett  and  his  friends  have  not  been 
able  to  grapple  in  any  effective  way  with  the  problem  of 
emigration  evidently  they  think  it  may  save  them  from  the 
result  of  their  incompetence  and  inefficiency  to  throw  the 
responsibility  on  the  Catholic  clergy,  and  to  attribute  the 
whole  exodus  to  the  building,  and  the  educational  and 
social  influence  of  the  Catholic  Church.  We  think,  on  our 
part,  that  if  there  were  other  handsome  buildings  erected 
as  well  as  handsome  churches  that  the  people  would  be 
more  contented  at  home  and  more  fascinated  by  their 
country.  But  can  the  clergy  be  expected  to  build  opera- 
houses  and  theatres,  and  open  up  fine  streets,  and  squares, 
and  gardens  ?  Can  they  be  seriously  expected  to  build 
res*^aurants  and  coffee-houses  and  arcaded  pavUions,  and 


.OL.  XV. 


u 


306  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


the  hundred  and  one  resorts  of  a  refined  and  pleasant  life 
which  bring  people  together  on  an  equal  footing  and  make 
them  feel  they  are  citizens  of  a  common  fatherland,  and 
enjoy  some  little  share  at  least  of  the  elegance  to  which  a 
civilized  people  may  aspire  ?  Is  it  their  specific  business 
to  construct  piers  and  quays,  and  provide  the  people  with 
fishing  boats  and  the  latest  and  most  improved  quality  of 
nets  and  gear  ? 

The  clergy  are  quite  willing  to  co-operate  in  all  these 
things  as  far  as  their  means  and  time  and  professional  pro- 
priety will  allow,  as  they  co-operate  heartily  in  the  work  of 
the  Agricultural  Department  for  which  they  have  got  such 
superior  patronage  and  such  scanty  recognition  from  Sir 
Horace  Plunkett.  But  we  should  have  thought  that  the 
lead  in  all  these  things  should  be  given  by  the  '  natural 
leaders,'  who,  according  to  themselves,  have  a  monopoly  of 
the  wealth  and  intelligence  of  the  country.  They  say,  no 
doubt,  that  we  alone  have  the  confidence  of  the  people. 
But  we  welcome  competition.  Why  will  they  not  honestly 
compete  with  us  for  the  love  and  devotion  of  the  people 
by  loving  them  and  serving  them  as  we  do  ?  And  if  they 
try  for  once,  why  should  they  begin  by  a  system  of  office- 
preaching  against  the  rehgion  of  the  people  which,  next 
to  '  street  preaching,'  is  to  them  the  most  objectionable  sort 
of  zeal  ? 

The  question  of  emigration,  however,  is  one  about 
which  we  do  not  care  to  indulge  in  recrimination  or  retort. 
Idle  controversy  will  not  help  to  cure  it.  If  you  want  to 
find  a  remedy  you  must  look  to  the  seat  and  the  cause  and 
the  circumstances  of  the  disease.  Here,  then,  is  how  the 
problem  looks  to  us. 

In  addition  to  certain  tendencies  and  impulses  of  nature, 
which  are  an  undoubted  inheritance  of  the  Celtic  race, 
particularly  of  the  Irish  and  the  Scotch,  impelling  them  to 
seek  adventure  and  change,  numbeiiess  circumstances  in 
the  condition  of  Ireland  urge  people  to  yield  to  this  pro- 
pensity rather  than  overcome  it.  Foremost  amongst  them 
is  the  perpetual  appeal  coming  from  the  men  and  women 
who  left  Ireland  in  the  days  of  the  crow-bar,  and  who  think 


SIR  HORACE  PLUNKETT'S  LECTURE  307 


no  temporal  good  can  be  hoped  for  in  the  land  of  misery 
they  knew  in  their  infancy  and  youth.    No  matter  how 
many  emigrants  may  have  succumbed  in  the  struggle  for 
existence,  great  numbers  have  survived  and  have  suc- 
ceeded in  one  way  or  another  in  making  a  competence  for 
themselves.    Mindful  now  of  the  claims  of  love  and  kinship 
they  call  to  their  side  the  sons  and  daughters jof  those  who 
were  nearest  and  dearest  to  them,  often  providing  situations 
for  them  beforehand,  and  helping  them  in  many  ways  to 
start  on  the  journey  of  life  in  a  strenuous  but^free  country. 
In  the  course  of  a  few  years  one  of  those  young  men  returns 
on  a  visit  to  his  native  spot,  dressed  in  broadcloth  and  tweed, 
and  has  pleasant  tales  to  tell  of  American  cities,  where  work 
is  hard,  no  doubt,  but  where  the  pay  is  good,  and  the  resorts 
of  entertainment  and  recreation  numerous  and  cheap.  The 
unsatisfied  arrears  of  capacity  for  enjoyment  are  thus  stirred 
to  their  depths  in  a  countryside.    The  long  suppressed 
instinct  of  nature  begins  to  bud  forth  again.     A  fever  of  hope 
and  unrest  is  communicated  on  all  sides,  and  hundreds 
of  boys  and  girls,  bred  in  poverty,  who  have  no  such 
stay  or  support  in  America  as  their  more  fortunate  acquaint- 
ances, are  tempted  to  try  their  fortune  in  a  field  where  they 
expect  to  come  all  of  a  sudden  into  prosperity,  without  any- 
thing of  the  gradual,  patient,  life-long  effort  which  people 
in  their  circumstances  have  to  face  and  do  face  in  other 
lands.    Heaven  knows  what  disappointments  and  suffer- 
ings await  them  when  they  come  face  to  face  with  the 
realities  of  their  lot,  and  how  many  of  them  fall  victims  to 
the  blind  and  inexcusable  folly  that  tempted  them  away 
from  their  home  and  country. 

We  will  not  stop  to  dispute  here  with  Sir  Horace  Plunkett 
the  causes  of  this  miscalculation  and  weakness.  li  it  were 
anything  in  the  system  of  national  education  over  which  the 
clergy  had  control  we  have  no  doubt  they  would  give  it 
their  best  attention.  But  of  this  we  are  convinced  that  it 
is  not  the  girls  of  our  convent  schools  or  the  pupils  of  our 
Christian  Brothers  who  go  away  in  this  helpless  fashion  ; 
and  Sir  Horace  Plunkett  will  admit  that  the  education  of 
the  so-called  '  National  Board  '  is  very  far,  indeed,  from 
being  our  ideal.    Nor    is  there  anything  to  be  gained  by 


30S  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


reverting  once  more  to  the  historic  causes  that  tended  so 
powerfully  to  aggravate  and  intensify  every  primitive  fault 
of  the  race  that  care  and  kind  treatment  and  education, 
continued  through  centuries,  would  have  done  so  much  to 
counteract  if  not  entirely  to  eradicate.  We  have  now  to 
begin  with  this  legacy  of  brutality  and  shame,  and  every 
influence  that  we  can  bring  to  bear  upon  it,  in  the  home,  in 
the  school,  in  the  church,  in  the  private  and  public  life  of 
the  people,  will  be  applied  with  intelligence  and  sympathy. 
We  cannot  hope  for  success  all  at  once  ;  of  ultimate  success 
we  have  no  doubt. 

This,  however,  is  only  one  part  of  the  remedy,  and  some 
questions  very  naturally  suggest  themselves  in  regard  to 
the  others. 

Whilst  the  clergy  and  the  people  are  doing  so  much  to 
provide  attractions,  to  foster  the  national  language,  games, 
sports,  customs  and  music,  to  build  halls  of  amusement, 
reading  rooms,  clubs  and  concert  halls,  liospitals  and 
churches,  to  say  nothing  of  their  efforts  to  promote  native 
industries  and  manufactures,  what  is  being  done  by  the 
people  who  are  sweeping  away  the  £112,000,000  out  of 
the  country  ?    x^nd  what  is  being  done  by  the  power 
that  extracts  £3,000,000  annually  in  excessive  taxation 
from  the  poor  people  of  Ireland  ?     Sir  Horace  Plunkett 
has  endeavoured  to  do  something  no  doubt,  and  the 
country  was  prepared  to  give  him   credit   for  it,  had 
he  not  set  himself  to  gossip  and  boast,  and  to  patronize 
and  censure  those  whom  he  was  supposed  to  enlighten 
and  to  benefit.    Some  noble  exceptions  there  are  also 
elsewhere,  who  realise  that  the  chief  wealth  of  a  nation 
ought  to  be  reproductive  and  to  become  the  fruitful  granary 
of  industry,  art,  and  science,  making  an  ever  increasing 
return  to  the  efforts  of  those  who  produced  it.    Apart  from 
these  the  chief  land-marks  left  us  by  the  two  classes  we  have 
mentioned    are    the  icjorkhousc  and  the  public-house,  fit 
monuments  of  the  civilization  they  had  conceived  as  the 


SIR  HORACE  PLUNKETT'S  LECTURE  309 


hesitation,  that  of  all  the  social  evils  imported  from  England 
for  the  ruin  of  this  country,  perhaps  the  greatest  was  the 
public-house.  In  other  countries,  at  all  events,  there  are 
redeeming  circumstances  in  connection  with  the  liquor-traffic 
that  prevent  it  from  becoming  the  source  of  absolute  degra- 
dation and  corruption.  In  Belgium,  Germany,  Switzerland, 
Italy,  you  see  it  carried  on  in  large  halls,  well  ventilated, 
well  lighted,  where  the  customers,  at  their  small  tables,  sit 
and  smoke  and  chat,  and  read  their  newspapers,  and  regale 
themselves  decently  and  quietly  with  their  beer,  and  then 
go  about  their  business  in  sobriety  and  good  humour. 
The  attractions  of  music  are  often  added,  and  the  common 
artisan  can  recognise  by  ear  the  pieces  of  Dvorak,  Berlioz, 
Lizst,  or  Sullivan,  that  are  performed  in  his  presence, 
and  converse  with  intelligence  about  the  latest  political 
debate  or  the  latest  picture.  Lectures  on  industrial  and 
social  questions  sometimes  vary  the  monotony.  Gentle  and 
simple  mix  there  together.  Food  is  served  as  well  as  drink. 
Indeed  food  is  often  the  chief  thing,  and  not  the  bogus  make- 
believe,  whilst  drink  is  merely  an  accessory.  The  wife  and 
children  may  come  safely  there  without  witnessing  any 
departure  from  good  manners  or  good  conduct.  Tliink  of 
that  picture  for  a  moment  and  then  think  of  the  puhlic- 
house. 

Total  abstinence  is,  of  course,  the  salt  of  the  earth  in 
this  country,  when  observed  for  the  example  of  others  and 
one's  own  security  and  sanctification,  and  it  is  also  the  only 
remedy  for  those  who  have  become  wrecks  from  frequent 
indulgence  ;  but  when  all  is  done  that  should  be  done  for 
the  promotion  of  total  abstinence,  is  there  nothing  to  be 
done  for  those  who  will  always  be  the  great  majority  of 
the  people  ?  The  clergy  do  what  they  can  through  the 
'  Anti-Treating  League  '  and  other  organisations  ;  but  what 
voice  have  the  clergy  in  the  control  of  the  liquor  traffic  ? 
Can  they  close  the  dens  which  pass  as  '  public-houses  ' 
and  spread  ruin  and  misery  on  all  sides,  weakening  the 
'  moral  fibre  '  and  breaking  down  the  character  of  men  and 


310 


THE  IRISH  ECCLFSIASTICAL  RECORD 


expected  from  people  soaked  in  whiskey  any  more  than  from 
people  drugged  with  opium  ?  And  if  the  opium  traffic  is 
recognised  as  a  curse,  why  should  the  liquor  traffic  be  fos- 
tered here,  and  so  organised  and  carried  on  as  to  enervate 
and  stupefy  the  greatest  possible  number  ?  Characteristics  of 
race,  climate,  custom,  locality,  disposition  make  its  ravages 
none  the  more  difficult.  What  education  can  cope  with  a 
system  that  looks  as  if  it  were  thus  specially  devised  to 
demoralize  and  corrupt  ?  And  are  the  clergy  to  blame  if, 
whilst  all  these  traps  are  open  on  Sundays  in  all  our  large 
cities  and,  to  a  great  extent,  through  the  country  too,  the 
restaurants  are  all  shut  ?  Why  is  it  that  on  the  Sunday  of 
the  O'Growney  funeral  last  year  the  people  could  get  drink 
without  limit,  whilst  a  mouthful  of  food  was  nowhere  to  be 
obtained  ?  We  do  not  think  that  Ireland  should  follow 
slavishly  the  system  of  any  country  in  the  world  in  matters 
of  this  kind  :  but  we  can  easily  conceive  such  an  organisa- 
tion of  the  liquor  traffic  here  as  would  rob  it  of  half  its 
debasing  power,  and  so  restrict  and  remodel  it  that  the 
country  would  become  as  attractive  to  foreigners  as  it 
would  be  creditable  to  its  own  inhabitants.  As  matters 
stand,  however,  Irishmen  can  only  conceive  such  things; 
the  power  to  do  more  is  not  in  their  hands. 

Sir  Horace  Plunkett  blames  the  clergy  for  the  strictness 
of  their  discipline,  particularly  on  Sundays,  and  thinks  it 
is  calculated  to  drive  the  people  off.  The  clergy  must  at 
all  risks  set  their  face  against  sin  and  evil  whether  on 
Sunday  or  Monda}^  and  not  even  to  justify  Sir  Horace 
Plunkett's  co-religionists  can  they  do  evil  or  connive  at 
evil  that  good  may  come  of  it.  Amongst  Catholics  the  end 
does  not  justify  the  means,  however  it  may  be  with  Pro- 
testants. But  who  ever  heard  that  the  Irish  clergy  set 
their  faces  against  innocent  mirth,  or  against  lawful  enjoy- 
ment on  Sunday  or  any  other  day  ?  The  observance  of 
the  Sabbath  is  a  grave  and  serious  matter,  and  any  sug- 
gestion made  in  connection  with  it  requires  to  be  done 
with  the  utmost  delicacv  and  reserve  :  but  surelv  it  is  not 


SIR  HORACE  PLUNKETT'S  LECTURE 


games  and  sports  on  Sunday.  It  is  certainly  not  the  spirit 
of  the  Cathohc  Church  to  make  people  gloomy  or  morose, 
or  to  crush  out  amongst  them  all  social  joys.  If  Sir  Horace 
Plunkett  wished  to  find  out  the  home  of  that  spirit  and  the 
quarter  from  which  it  came,  he  might  have  consulted  the 
pages  of  Buckle,  a  writer  for  whom  he  expresses  such 
admiration  in  the  early  part  of  his  book.  He  would  very 
soon  have  come  on  a  passage  such  as  this  : — 

To  be  poor  [says  Buckle/^  describing  the  doctrines  of  the 
Scotch  divines  of  the  seventeenth  century],  to  be  poor,  dirty, 
and  hungry ;  to  pass  through  Hfe  in  misery  and  to  leave  it  with 
fear  ;  to  be  plagued  with  boils  and  sores  and  diseases  of  every 
kind  ;  to  be  always  sighing  and  groaning  ;  to  have  the  face 
streaming  with  tears  and  the  chest  heaving  with  sobs  ;  in  a 
word,  to  suffer  constant  affliction  and  to  be  tormented  in  all 
possible  ways — to  undergo  these  things  was  a  proof  of  goodness 
just  as  the  contrary  was  a  proof  of  evil.  It  mattered  not  what 
a  man  liked,  the  mere  fact  of  his  liking  it  made  it  sinful.  What- 
ever was  natural  was  wrong.  The  clergy  deprived  the  people 
of  their  holidays,  their  amusements,  their  shows,  their  games, 
and  their  sports  ;  they  repressed  every  appearance  of  joy,  they 
forbade  all  merriment,  they  stopped  all  festivities,  they  choked 
up  every  avenue  by  which  pleasure  could  enter,  and  they  spread 
over  the  country  an  universal  gloom.  Then  truly  did  darkness 
sit  on  the  land.  Men  in  their  daily  actions  and  in  their  very 
looks  became  troubled,  melancholy,  and  ascetic.  Their  coun- 
tenance soured  and  was  downcast.  Not  only  their  opinions, 
but  their  gait,  their  demeanour,  their  voice,  their  general  aspect, 
were  influenced  by  that  deadly  blight  which  nipped  all  that  was 
genial  and  warm.  The  way  of  life  fell  into  the  sere  and  yellow 
leaf ;  its  tints  gradually  deepened  ;  its  bloom  faded  and  passed 
off ;  its  spring,  its  freshness  and  its  beauty  were  gone  ;  joy  and 
love  either  disappeared  or  were  forced  to  hide  themselves  in  obs- 
cure corners,  until  at  length  the  fairest  and  most  endearing  parts 
of  our  nature,  being  constantly  repressed,  ceased  to  bear  fruit  and 
seemed  to  be  withered  into  perpetual  sterility.  Thus  it  was  that 
the  national  character  of  the  Scotch  was  in '  the  seventeenth 
century  dwarfed  and  mutilated  .  .  .  They  [the  Scotch  divines] 
sought  to  destroy  not  only  human  pleasures,  but  human  affec- 
tions. They  held  that  our  affections  are  necessarily  connected 
with  our  lusts,  and  that  we  must  therefore  wean  ourselves  from 
them  as  earthly  vanities.  A  Christian  had  no  business  with 
love  or  sympathy.    He  had  his  own  soul  to  attend  to,  and  that 


312  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


was  enough  for  him.  Let  him  look  to  himself.  On  Sunday, 
in  particular,  he  must  never  think  of  benefitting  others  ;  and  the 
Scotch  clergy  did  not  hesitate  to  teach  the  people  that  on  that 
day  it  was  sinful  to  save  a  vessel  in  distress,  and  that  it  was  a 
proof  of  religion  to  leave  ship  and  crew  to  perish.  The}'  might 
go  :  none  but  their  wives  and  children  would  suffer,  and  that  was 
nothing  in  comparison  with  breaking  the  Sabbath.  So,  too,  did 
the  clergy  teach  that  on  no  occasion  must  food  or  shelter  be  given 
to  a  starving  man,  unless  his  opinions  were  orthodox.  What 
need  for  him  to  live  ?  Indeed,  they  taught  that  it  was  a  sin  to 
tolerate  his  notions  at  all,  and  that  the  proper  course  was  to 
visit  him  with  sharp  and  immediate  punishment.  Going  yet 
farther,  they  broke  the  domestic  ties  and  set  parents  against 
their  offspring.  They  taught  the  father  to  smite  the  unbeliev- 
ing child,  and  to  sla}'  his  own  boy  sooner  than  allow  him  to 
propagate  error.  As  if  this  were  not  enough,  they  tried  to 
extirpate  another  affection,  even  more  sacred  and  more  devoted 
still.  They  laid  their  rude  and  merciless  hands  on  the  holiest 
passion  of  which  our  nature  is  capable — the  love  of  a  mother  for 
her  son.  ...  To  hear  of  such  things  is  enough  to  make  one's 
blood  surge  again,  and  raise  a  tempest  in  our  inmost  nature. 
But  to  have  seen  them,  to  have  lived  in  the  midst  of  them,  and 
yet  not  to  have  rebelled  against  them,  is  to  us  utterly  incon- 
ceivable, and  proves  in  how  complete  a  thraldom  the  Scotch 
were  held,  and  how  thoroughly  their  minds  as  well  as  their 
bodies  were  enslaved. 

Whatever  there  is  of  this  spirit  in  Ireland  was  introduced 
by  the  Scotchmen,  Muggletonians,  ?nd  Anabaptists  who 
came  over  here  in  the  eighteenth  century  to  track  out  the 
priests,  and  to  act  as  spies  and  informers  on  Catholics  who 
had  any  landed  property  or  a  horse  above  the  value  of  five 
pounds. 

Sir  Horace  Plunkett  complains  of  the  relics  of  super- 
stition that  still  linger  in  certain  parts  of  the  country. 
What  these  remnants  are  he  does  not  specify.  We  wonder 
whether  he  refers  to  the  superstition  of  '  thirteen  at  a  table,' 
or  '  three  lights  in  a  room,'  or  '  walking  under  a  ladder,' 
that  prevail  so  largely  in  the  circles  to  which  he  belongs. 
Or  is  it,  perhaps,  the  obscurantist  superstition  of  the  Chris- 
tian Scientists  that  left  his  friend  Harold  Frederic  to  die 

witVimit  a  rlnrtor    and  thnt       <;aid  nnt  to  hp  unknown  in 


SIR  HORACE  PLUNKETT'S  LECTURE  313 


Pope  as  Anti-Christ,  and  that  made  four  '  strong  farmers ' 
jump  off  their  car  as  they  returned  from  a  fair,  to  attack 
an  inoffensive  priest,  and  beat  him  with  their  sticks  about 
the  head  and  face  as  he  lay  unconscious  on  the  ground  ? 
No.  It  is  more  probably  the  '  worm's  knot,'  or  the  '  hare's 
foot,'  or  the  '  cure  for  'sciatic  in  the  legs  '  of  the  '  wise 
woman  '  of  Lisclogher,  so  beautifully  and  so  wittily  descri- 
bed by  the  Hon.  Mrs.  Greville  Nugent  in  a  recent  number 
of  the  Nineteenth  Century. 

In  his  Lenten  Pastoral  His  Eminence  Cardinal  Logue 
calls  attention  to  the  fact  that  twenty  or  thirty  years  ago 
aU  the  ills  of  Ireland  used  to  be  ascribed  by  economists  of 
the  Horace  Phmkett  school  to  early  and  improvident  mar- 
riages, to  the  over-population  of  the  country,  to  the  number 
of  saints'  daj's  that  Catholics  observed  as  holidays,  to  the 
demoralizing  practice  of  almsgiving,  and  a  whole  litany  of 
Catholic  observances  that  violated  the  economic  code  of 
which  they  were  the  expounders.    The  cry  is  changed  now, 
and  when  these  old  theories  are  exploded  a  new  one  has 
to  be  found.    St.  Lubbock  has  since  come  upon  the  scene. 
Lord  Salisbury's  plan  of  getting  rid  of  a  million  of  the 
population  has  been  practically  carried  out.  Marriages, 
early  or  late,  have  greatly  declined,  and  almsgiving  no 
longer  excites  the  jealousy  of  former  days.    The  economist, 
therefore,  turns  to  church  building,  and  education,  and  the 
social  influence  of  the  clergy,  and  proclaims  to  all  England 
and  Scotland  that  he  has  discovered  the  cause  of  all  the 
mischief.    He  goes  even  deeper  still,  and  professes  to  have 
observed  some  root-antagonism  between  Catholicism  and 
economics.    Now,  when  no  such  antagonism  has  been  dis- 
covered by  such  enlightened  authorities  as  Professor  Perin, 
of  Louvain,  or  Mr.  Devas  of  London,  nor  by  such  liberal 
writers  and  thinkers  as  Le  Play,i*  or  Bastiat,!^  or  Leroy 
Beaulieu,!^  or  de  Tocqueville,^'  you  must  naturally  conclude 
that  something   besides    economics  has  been  troubling 

See  La  R'eforme  Sociale  en  France,  chapter  on  '  Religion.' 


314  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


Sir  Horace  Plunkett,  and  you  feel  very  strongly  that  you 
would  have  much  preferred  to  get  the  few  shreds  of  secular 
knowledge  you  desired  from  this  Protestant  gentleman, 
without  any  nods  or  hints  about  the  true  religion. 

What  Sir  Horace  Plunkett,  in  his  private  capacity,  thinks 
about  us  or  our  religion  is  not  a  matter  of  much  concern  to 
us  ;  but  it  must  be  a  subject  of  the  deepest  concern  and 
uneasiness  to  all  Irish  Catholics  to  see  at  the  head  of  a  great 
public  department,  with  extensive  patronage  in  his  hands, 
a  man  who  openly  professes  his  belief  that  the  conception  of 
economics  based  upon  their  religion  is,  in  several  of  its  most 
important  aspects,  fundamentally  wrong  and  bad,  and  that 
the  system  of  education  based  on  that  religion  is  calculated 
to  weaken,  and  does  weaken  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  '  moral 
fibre  '  of  the  whole  nation,  sapping  the  energy,  and  under-- 
mining  the  moral  strength  and  courage  of  the  majority 
of  its  people.  That,  we  say,  is  a  serious  declaration 
coming  from  an  official  who  is  paid  by  the  people  to 
attend  to  a  very  different  sort  of  business.  What  wonder 
that  we  should  find  this  notion  prevalent  in  so  many 
quarters  when  we  thus  see  it  openly  proclaimed  by  a  man 
who,  on  the  whole,  had  got  so  large  a  share  of  the  confidence 
of  Irish  Catholics.  For  our  part  we  very  much  mistake 
the  character  of  the  Irish  people  if  they  have  not 
intelligence  enough  to  see  through  all  this  mechanism  of 
statecraft,  and  '  moral  fibre  '  enough  to  show  what  they 
think  of  it. 

J.  F.  HOGAN,  D.D. 


[    315  ] 


THE  CENTENARY  OF  BOSSUET 


bossuet's  sermons 


HE  world  honours  the  memor}'  of  its  heroes,  and 


the  Church  celebrates  the  centenaries  of  her  saints. 


The  example  of  the  great  men  of  the  past  serves 
as  a  light  and  an  encouragement  to  men  earnest  in  the 
struggles  of  the  present.    And  not  only  those  who  were 
great  in  action  deserve  to  be  remembered.    Those  also  are 
worthy  of  honour,  '  who  were  endued  with  wisdom,  showing 
forth  in  the  prophets  the  dignity  of  prophets,  and  by  the 
strength  of  wisdom  instriicting  the  people  in  most  :  holy 
words. Such  a  one  was  James  Benignus  Bossuet,  the 
second  centenary  of  whose  death  France  celebrates  on 
I2th  April,  1904.    Bossuet  is  one  of  those  men  who  belong 
not  to  their  own  country  alone,  but  to  the  whole  Church  ; 
and  therefore  the  lessons  to  be  learned  from  his  centenary 
are  not  limited  to  France.    There  are  many  points  of  view 
from  which  that  great  man  may  be  considered.    As  a 
scholar  his  fame  was  European,  as  a  controversialist  he 
was  unrivalled,  as  a  historian  he  was  eminent,  as  a  bishop 
he  was  a  model  of  zeal.    Defects  may,  indeed,  be  found  in 
him.    In  his  controversy  with  Fenelon  his  zeal  for  sound 
doctrine  was  more  remarkable  for  strength  than  for  suavity. 
In  his  defence  of  the  Declaration  of  the  Liberties  of  the 
Ciallican  Church,  he  laid  down  principles  which  even  before 
the  Council  of  the  Vatican  F'rench  theologians  had  aban- 
doned.   But  in  one  respect,  that  is  in  eloquence,  Bossuet 
ranks  second  to  none.    The  eloquence  of  Bossuet  in  his 
funeral  orations  has  never  been  surpassed.     In  them  he 
has  reached  a  height  to  which  Demosthenes  and  Cicero  in 
their  greatest  speeches  never  attained.    What  Cardinal 
Bausset^  says  of  the  funeral  oration  on  the  great  Cond6  may 
be  justly  said  of  them  all :  '  All  that  is  most  august  and 
most  sacred  in  religion,  all  that  is  most  noble  and  majestic 


31 6  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


in  eloquence,  all  that  is  most  affecting  in  poetry  is  found 
combined  in  that  admirable  composition.'  But  it  is  not 
our  present  purpose  to  examine  the  career  of  Bossviet  as  a 
scholar,  or  as  a  controversialist,  or  as  a  historian,  or  as  a 
bishop,  nor  even  as  an  orator  in  the  profane  sense  of  the 
term ;  our  purpose  is  to  consider  him  as  a  preacher  of  the 
word  of  God.  Leaving  therefore  out  of  the  question  the 
other  aspects  of  his  life  and  character,  we  shall,  in  the  first 
place,  sketch  the  career  of  Bossuet  as  a  preacher  ;  secondly, 
we  shall  examine  what  is  the  rank  he  holds  amongst 
preachers  ;  and,  thirdly,  we  shall  inquire  what  was  the 
method  he  followed  in  tlie  preparation  of  his  sermons,  and 
what  were  the  principles  he  held  regarding  the  office  and 
the  scope  of  preaching. 

I 

James  Benignus  Bossuet  was  born  at  Dijon  in  1627. 
His  elementary  studies  were  made  at  the  Jesuit  College 
in  his  native  town.  Thence  he  passed  to  Paris,  and  entered 
the  College  of  Navarre,  at  that  time  the  most  distinguished 
in  the  University.  Here  he  studied  with  marked  success  ; 
and  in  1652  obtained  the  degree  of  doctor  of  theology. 
In  the  same  year  he  was  ordained  priest.  He  made  the 
retreat  in  preparation  for  his  ordination  in  the  monastery 
of  St.  Lazarus,  under  the  direction  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul. 
Writing  to  Pope  Clement  XL  fifty  years  later,  Bossuet 
recalls  with  gratitude  the  memory  of  that  retreat,  and  he 
adds,  that  he  became  at  the  time  a  member  of  the  cele- 
brated Tuesday  conferences  which  were  held  every  week 
at  Vincent's  monastery,  and  attended  by  the  elite  of  the 
clergy  of  Paris. 

There  were  present  [he  writes]  oftentimes  bishops  of  great 
name,  attracted  by  the  reputation  and  the  piety  of  the  man 
(Vincent),  and  who  were  admirably  aided  in  their  apostolic 
cares  and  labours  by  that  sodality.  There  were  present  also 
workmen  that  need  not  be  ashamed,  who  rightly  handled  the 
word  of  God  throughout  their  dioceses  and  preached  the  Gospel 


THE  CENTENARY  OF  BOSSUET 


speaks,  let  him  speak  as  the  words  of  God,  if  any  man  minister 
let  him  do  it  as  of  the  virtue  which  God  administereth.'  (i  Pet. 
iv.  II. y 

Soon  after  his  ordination  Bossuet  went  to  reside  at 
Metz,  where  he  had  obtained  a  canonry.    In  1657  the 
Queen  Regent,  Anne  of  Austria,  visited  that  city,  and  on 
her  return  to  Paris  she  commanded  Vincent  de  Paul  to 
send  a  mission  to  Metz.    Vincent,  who  was  accustomed  to 
employ  his  own  congregation  in  giving  missions  to  the 
people  of  the  country  districts,  called  to  his  aid  the  clergy 
of  the  Tuesday  conferences.    From  amongst  them  he 
formed  a  band  of  missioners  to  proceed  to  Metz.    At  this 
juncture':; Vincent  wrote  to  the  Abbe  Bossuet  requesting 
him,  as  he  was  on  the  spot,  to  assist  in  making  arrangements 
for  the  mission.'!  Bossuet  gladly  gave  his  co-operation.  He 
not  only  made  satisfactory  arrangements  for  the  missioners, 
but  he  joined  them  in  their  labours.    He  preached  at  the 
cathedral,  and  at  the  parish  church  of  the  citadel,  and  gave 
instructions  in  catechism  to  the  soldiers  and  the  working 
people.    His  discourses  were  blessed.    When  the  mission 
closed,  the  Abbe  Chandeniev,  who  had  been  director  of  it, 
wrote  to  Vincent  to  give  an  account  of  the  good  that  had 
been  accomplished,  and  to  ask  him  to  write  a  letter  thank- 
ing the  bishop  of  the  place  for  his  patronage.    He  added  : 
'  Write  also  a  word  of  congratulation  to  M.  Bossuet  for  the 
assistance  he  gave  us  by  his  sermons  and  instructions, 
which  were  greatly  blessed  by  God.'    The  mission  at  Metz 
took  place  in  1658.    The  following  year  found  Bossuet  in  a 
wider  field  of  labour.  In  1659  he  came  to  Paris  as  delegate 
of  the  chapter  of  Metz  on  the  business  of  that  body.  From 
that  date  until  his  appointment  to  the  see  of  Condom,  and 
to  the  office  of  preceptor  of  the  Dauphin,  his  labours  in 
the  pulpit  were  unceasing.    Each  year,  for  ten  years,  he 
preached  either  the  Lenten  or  the  Advent  station  in  one 
or  other  of  the  great  churches  of  Paris,  delivering,  accord- 
ing to  the  practice  of  the  time,  three  sermons  each  week. 
He  preached  the  Lent  at  the  Church  of  the  Minims  in  1660, 


3l8  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


at  that  of  the  Carmehtes  in  1661,  at  the  Louvre  before  the 
Court  in  1662,  at  St.  Thomas  du  Louvre  in  1665,  and  at  St. 
Germain's  before  the  Court  in  1666.  He  preached  the  Advent 
station  at  the  Louvre  in  presence  of  the  Court  in  1665  ;  at 
St.  Thomas  du  Louvre  in  1668  ;  and  at  St.  Germain,  before 
the  Court,  in  i66g.  The  first  of  his  great  funeral  orations 
was  dehvered  in  1662,  and  the  second  in  1663.  Mean- 
while he  was  indefatigable  in  preaching  to  less  brilliant 
audiences.  From  time  to  time  he  preached  in  convent 
chapels  on  the  occasion  of  the  clothing  or  the  profession 
of  nuns.  He  gave  conferences  in  the  parlours  of  convents 
to  select  audiences  of  pious  persons,  explaining  to  them 
familiarly  the  epistle  or  gospel  of  the  office  of  the  Church. 
He  maintained  his  early  relations  with  Vincent  de  Paul, 
and  at  his  request,  and  probably  in  his  presence,  he  preached 
one  of  his  most  beautiful  sermons,  that  on  '  The  eminent 
dignity  of  the  Poor  in  the  Church,'^  in  aid  of  the  mother  house 
of  the  Sisters  of  Providence,  whom  Vincent  had  founded. 
Nor  did  he  neglect  the  instruction  of  ecclesiastics.  At  the 
invitation  of  Vincent  de  Paul  he  preached  at  St.  Lazarus 
the  retreat  in  preparation  for  the  Easter  ordinations  in 
1659,  and  the  retreat  for  the  Pentecost  ordination  in  1660. 
When  Vincent  passed  to  his  reward,  at  the  request  of  his 
first  successor  M.  Almeras,  Bossuet  again  preached  the  ordina- 
tion retreats  in  1663  and  1669.  The  number  of  clerics  who 
made  those  retreats  at  St.  Lazarus  usually  amounted  to 
three  hundred  annually.  The  exercises  lasted  ten  days  and 
the  preacher  gave  two  conferences  each  day.  When  it  was 
known  that  M.  Bossuet  was  the  person  selected  to  deliver 
the  lectures  the  attendance  was  unusually  large.  In  the 
letter  to  Clement  XL  already  mentioned,  Bossuet  refers  to 
those  retreats  in  the  following  terms  : — 

He  ^Vincent]  zealously  instituted  pious  retreats  for  clerics 
about  to  receive  orders  ;  and  we  ourselves,  at  his  invitation, 
and  relying  on  his  prayers  and  advice,  gladly  undertook  on 
more  than  one  occasion  the  task  of  delivering  the  accustomed 
conferences  on  ecclesiastical  subjects. 


THE  CENTENARY  OF  BOSSUET 


Unfortunately  the  conferences  delivered  by  Bossuet 
during  those  retreats  have  not  been  preserved.  The  year 
1670  marks  an  epoch  in  the  life  of  Bossuet.  In  that  year 
he  received  episcopal  consecration  as  Bishop  of  Condom, 
a  see  which  he  soon  after  resigned  to  undertake  the  office 
of  preceptor  of  the  Dauphin  of  France.  To  that  function 
the  next  twelve  years  of  his  life  were  devoted.  With  wliat 
sentiments  he  discharged  that  office  may  be  inferred  from  a 
letter  addressed,  in  1672,  to  M.  le  Marechal  de  Bellefonds  : — 

I  must  say  a  word  [he  writes]  about  My  Lord  the  Dauphin. 
I  see  in  him,  as  it  seems  to  me,  the  commencement  of  great  graces, 
etc.  .  .  .  You  would  be  delighted  if  I  told  you  of  the  questions  he 
puts  to  me,  and  the  desire  he  manifests  to  serve  God  earnestly. 
But,  the  world,  the  world,  the  world,  pleasure,  bad  advice, 
bad  example  !  Save  us,  0  Lord,  save  us.  Thou  didst  preserve 
the  children  in  the  furnace,  but  Thou  didst  send  thy  angel, 
and  1,  alas  !  what  am  I  ?5 

In  the  midst  of  a  court  Bossuet  led  a  life  of  retirement 
and  study.  From  time  to  time,  however,  he  reappeared  in 
the  pulpit  ;  and  to  this  period  belong  three  of  his  most 
splendid  discourses,  viz.,  his  sermon  for  the  clothing  of 
Madame  de  la  Valliere,  and  his  funeral  orations  on  Henrietta 
of  England,  and  Henrietta  of  France. 

In  1681  his  duties  as  preceptor  of  the  Dauphin  came 
to  an  end,  and  he  was  promoted  to  the  see  of  Meaux. 
Before  setting  out  for  his  diocese  he  took  a  prominent 
part  in  the  assembly  of  the  clergy  of  France,  and  in  the 
drawing  up  of  the  famous  Declaration  of  1682.  At  the 
opening  of  that  assembly  he  delivered  an  eloquent  sermon 
on  the  unity  of  the  Church.  But  much  as  we  admire  his 
learning  and  his  eloquence  we  cannot  but  regret  that  in 
that  assembly  he  took  a  leading  part  in  formulating  prin- 
ciples derogatory  to  the  rights  of  the  Holy  See,  principles 
which  no  Frenchman,  who  values  his  allegiance  to  the  Chair 
of  Peter,  could  venture,  since  the  Vatican  Council,  to  revive. 
But  Bossuet,  Gallican  though  he  was,  professed  the  most 
profound  respect  for  the  primacy  and  authority  of  the  Holy 


320  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


See,^  and  a  great  desire  for  harmony  between  the  ecclesias- 
tical and  civil  powers  ;  and  it  may  be  alleged  on  his  behalf 
that  the  extent  of  the  Papal  authority  had  not  then  obtained 
the  solemn  recognition  which  it  has  since  received. 

When  the  assembly  came  to  a  close  Bossuet  set  out  for 
his  diocese.  It  was  comparatively  obscure  ;  even  at  the 
present  day  the  episcopal  city  of  Meaux  contains  only  12,833 
inhabitants.  Here  Bossuet  devoted  himself  with  energy 
for  two-and-twenty  years  to  the  duties  of  the  episcopal 
office,  to  the  visitation  of  his  diocese,  and  the  celebration 
of  synods.  In  the  moments  of  leisure  which  he  could  find 
amidst  his  official  duties,  he  applied  himself  to  study  and 
to  the  composition  of  learned  works,  such  as  his  History 
of  the  Variations  of  the  Protestant  Churches.  But  he  did  not 
permit  his  zeal  for  learning,  or  for  the  re-union  of  the 
Churches,  to  divert  him  from  preaching,  which  the  Council 
of  Trent  calls  the  first  duty  of  bishops.  He  preached  in  his 
cathedral  on  all  great  festivals  during  the  whole  period  of 
his  episcopate  from  1682  to  1702,  when  his  last  illness  com- 
pelled him  to  be  silent.  He  also  delivered  frequent  synodal 
addresses  to  his  clergy.  Though  only  fragments  of  those 
discourses  have  come  down  to  us,  they  suffice  to  show 
what  manner  of  man  he  was.  He  spoke  to  his  clergy  at 
one  time  on  the  '  Sanctity  of  the  Priesthood  and  on  Prayer 
as  the  mark  of  it  ;  '  at  other  times  on  '  Preaching  ;  '  on 
'  Catechizing  ;  '  on  '  The  Mission  of  the  Preacher  ;  '  on  '  The 
duty  of  Preaching  ;  '  on  '  Preaching  by  Example.'  The 
text  of  his  last  synodal  address  was  '  Depositum  Custodi.' 
In  it  he  urged  his  clergy  to  guard  with  care  the  deposit  of 
faith,  the  deposit  of  discipline,  and  the  deposit  of  temporal 
goods  destined  for  the  relief  of  the  poor.  Not  satisfied  with 
solemn  discourses  such  as  those  just  mentioned,  he  seized 
every  favourable  opportunity  to  minister  the  word  of 
exhortation.  At  the  baptism  of  converts,  at  confirmations, 
and  at  ordinations  he  was  wont  to  deliver  an  exhortation 
appropriate  to  the  occasion.  He  addressed  fervent  exhor- 
tations from  time  to  time  to  communities  of  nuns  ;  and  it 


THE  CENTENARY  OF  BOSSUET 


321 


would  be  difficult  to  find  anything  more  practical  or  more 
beautiful  than  his  sermon  to  the  Ursulines  of  Meaux  on 
the  threefold  silence — the  silence  of  rule,  the  silence  of  prud- 
ence, and  the  silence  of  patience.  Knowing  from  his  early 
experience  the  salutary  fruits  of  missions,  he  organised 
missions  throughout  his  diocese,  and  on  one  occasion, 
assisted  by  Fenelon,  the  future  Archbishop  of  Cambrai,  and 
by  the  Abbe  Fleury,  he  himself  gave  a  mission  in  his 
cathedral  city.  From  time  to  time  he  appeared  in  the 
pulpits  of  the  capital.  In  1683  he  preached  the  funeral 
oration  of  Marie  Therese  of  Austria,  wife  of  Louis  XIV,, 
and  soon  after  the  funeral  orations  of  the  Princess  Palatine, 
and  of  Letellier.  In  1685  he  preached  on  the  occasion  of 
the  abjuration  of  the  Duke  of  Portsmouth  ;  and  in  1686 
he  delivered  the  greatest  of  his  funeral  orations,  that  on 
the  Prince  of  Conde.  In  1700  he  preached  at  St.  Germain's, 
in  presence  of  the  exiled  King  and  Queen  of  England.  His 
last  discourse  was  delivered  in  his  own  cathedral  at  Easter, 
1702.  From  that  time  his  chief  care  was  to  prepare  for 
death.  After  much  patient  suffering  the  end  came  on  12th 
April,  1704  ;  and  after  a  long  and  great  career  Bossuet  went 
to  receive  the  double  reward  promised  to  those  who  rule 
well,  and  labour  in  the  word  and  doctrine.''  Such  is  a  brief 
sketch  of  Bossuet's  career  as  a  preacher.  Let  us  go  on  to 
examine  what  is  the  rank  which  is  due  to  him  in  that 
capacity. 

II. 

The  truest  test  of  the  worth  of  a  preacher  is  his  influence 
on  souls.  But  that  test  is  often  invisible  to  man.  Some- 
times when  there  is  joy  in  heaven  over  the  fruits  produced 
by  a  preacher,  the  result  is  unnoticed  on  earth.  The  sins 
of  men,  as  St.  Augustine  expresses  it,  are  visible,  but  their 
penance  is  unseen.  '  In  occulto  est  unde  guadeam,  in 
publico  est  unde  torquear.'**  But  apart  from  this  there 
are  three  great  tests  of  the  rank  and  influence  of  a  preacher, 


322 


THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


of  posterity,  and  the  discourses  which  have  survived  him. 
Let  us  examine  Bossuet's  rank  as  a  preacher  in  the  light 
of  these  tests. 

The  great  esteem  in  which  Bossuet's  eloquence  was  held 
by  his  contemporaries  is  evident  from  many  sources.  The 
Abbe  Chandenier  bears  witness  to  the  success  with  which 
he  preached  at  Metz  in  the  early  years  of  his  ministry. 
During  the  ten  years  he  spent  in  Paris,  previous  to  his 
episcopal  consecration,  he  was  invited  on  the  most  solemn 
occasions,  to  fill  the  principal  pulpits  of  the  capital.  His 
sermon  on  St.  Joseph,  preached  in  presence  of  Anne  of 
Austria,  charmed  all  who  heard  it,  and  was  referred  to  with 
eulogy  in  the  Press  of  the  day.^ 

The  fact  that  Bossuet  was  invited  to  preach  so  often 
before  the  Court,  and  that  he  was  selected  to  deliver  the 
funeral  orations  of  the  most  remarkable  persons  of  the 
period,  proves  how  highly  his  eloquence  was  appreciated. 
La  Bruyere,  a  contemporary  writer,  in  his  character  sketches, 
speaks  thus  of  Bossuet  :  '  The  Bishop  of  Meaux  and  Father 
Bourdaloue  remind  me  of  Demosthenes  and  Cicero.  Both, 
masters  of  pulpit  eloquence,  have  had  the  fate  of  great 
models  ;  the  former  has  had  bad  critics,  and  the  latter  bad 
imitators. The  same  writer  again  refers  to  Bossuet  in 
a  discourse  delivered  before  the  Academic  Frangaise  : — 

What  shall  I  say  of  that  great  man  who  has  been  so  long 
the  theme  of  envious  critics,  and  has  reduced  them  all  to  silence  ; 
whom  in  spite  of  ourselves  we  admire,  who  overpowers  us  by 
the  extent  and  the  eminence  of  his  talents,  who  is  at  once  an 
orator,  a  historian,  a  theologian,  a  philosopher,  a  man  of  rare 
erudition  ;  of  still  rarer  eloquence,  in  his  discourses,  in  his  writ- 
ings, in  the  pulpit  ;  a  champion  of  religion,  a  light  of  the  Church, 
let  us  use  betimes  the  language  of  posterity,  a  Father  of  the 


'■'Jean  Loret  thus  refers  to  this  sermon  in  the  Musee  historique,  22nd 
March,  1659 : — 

'  L'abb6  Bousset  esprit  rare 
Qu'aux  plus  eloquents  on  compare 
Mercredi  ;  jour  de  Saint  Joseph 
Aux  Carmelites,  dans  le  nef. 


THE  CENTENARY  OF  BOSSUET 


323 


Church.  What  is  he  not  ?  Name,  gentlemen,  a  single  virtue 
which  he  does  not  possess." 

Bourdaloue  himself,  one  of  the  greatest  preachers  of 
the  age,  spoke  of  Bossuet  as  more  eloquent  than  himself .^^ 
These  testimonies  abundantly  prove  how  great  was  the 
reputation  Bossuet  possessed  as  a  preacher  amongst  his 
contemporaries.  It  is  true  in  the  brilliant  letters  of  Mme. 
de  Sevigne  he  is  less  frequently  mentioned  than  Bourdaloue. 
But  at  the  time  Bourdaloue  made  his  appearance  in  Paris, 
Bossuet  had  already  gone  into  comparative  retirement  as 
tutor  of  the  Dauphin,  and  when  that  duty  was  discharged 
he  went  to  reside  in  his  diocese,  appearing  in  the  capital 
only  on  rare  occasions. 

Amongst  his  contemporaries  the  reputation  of  Bossuet 
as  a  preacher  was  high,  yet  it  seems  certain  they  did  not 
estimate  his  eloquence  at  its  true  value.  What  is  the  esti- 
mate in  which  he  has  been  held  by  those  who  came  after 
him.  His  rank  as  a  preacher  of  funeral  orations  has  never 
been  disputed.  All  critics  admit  that  in  this  respect  he 
never  had  an  equal,  much  less  a  superior.  But  the  same 
unanimity  has  not  always  prevailed  respecting  his  rank  as 
a  preacher.  La  Harpe  speaks  with  disparagement  of  the 
sermons  of  Bossuet.  '  Bossuet,'  he  says,  '  was  mediocre 
in  his  sermons,  as  was  Massillon  in  his  funeral  orations. '^^  For 
along  time  critics,  lay  and  clerical,  handed  on  this  apprecia- 
tion, without  serious  examination.  But  in  recent  years 
the  sermons  of  Bossuet  have  been  made  the  object  of  careful 
study  ;  and  modern  critics,  of  the  highest  eminence,  do  not 
hesitate  to  reverse  the  verdict  of  La  Harpe.  Villemain 
compares  Bossuet  to  St.  John  Chrysostom,  and  pronounces 
him  more  eloquent.  '  It  is,'  he  writes,  '  to  Bossuet  in  his 
sermons  that  he  (Chrysostom)  might  be  compared  if  Bossuet 
could  have  an  equal  ;  if  he  had  not  that  sublime  gift  which 
Christian  eloquence  rarely  attained  before  his  time.'^'i  Again 
he  says  :  '  The  sermons  of  Bossuet  were,  if  not  his  greatest 


324  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


at  least  his  most  natural  work.i*5    According  to  M.  Nisard 

Bossuet  excels  in  dogmatic  exposition,  in  moral  lessons, 

in  enthusiasm,  and  in  logical  argument.    M.  Feugere,  in 

his  studies  on  Bourdaloue,  contrasts  him  with  Bossuet,  and 

speaks  as  follows  : — 

The  distinctive  character  of  Bossuet  and  his  chief  excellence 
is  this  :  he  influences  by  turns  all  the  powers  of  the  soul,  he 
makes  all  its  chords  to  vibrate  ;  he  reasons,  he  strikes,  he  inspires 
terror,  he  consoles,  he  humbles,  he  raises  up,  he  moves  and 
casts  into  agitation  all  the  faculties  of  the  soul,  he  inspires  it 
with  many  mingled  feelings,  and  with  an  emotion  that  cannot 
be  defined,  but  which  will,  he  hopes,  be  transformed  into  a  holy 
fear  of  the  judgments  of  God,  and  from  which  will  issue,  perhaps, 
a  cry  of  repentance  and  remorse.  One  may  resist  Bossuet, 
after  deliberation,  as  one  resists  oneself  ;  but  while  he  speaks 
one  is  capable  of  nothing  else  but  mute  submission  to  his  power- 
ful eloquence  ;  he  sways,  he  commands,  he  carries  off  ;  man 
overcome  is  silent,  and  follows  him.  When  human  speech 
reaches  such  a  degree  of  power,  it  is  no  longer  an  orator  we  hear, 
but  eloquence  personified  .  .  .  Bossuet  is  an  orator  in  the  full 
force  of  the  term,  and  in  its  fullest  extent  ;  and  one  of  the  two 
or  three  most  perfect  orators  that  have  ever  endeavoured  to 
persuade  mankind.^'' 

M.  Brunetiere,^'  of  the  Academic  Fran9aise,  never  tires 
in  his  praise  of  Bossuet's  sermons.  In  them  he  finds  lyric 
sublimity,  suggestiveness,  vivacity,  and  splendid  imagery. 

In  the  first  place  [he  writes]  no  one  in  his  time,  nor  in  our 
time,  has  written  with  more  exactness  and  precision,  with  more 
strength  and  splendour  ;  and  these  are  but  the  more  apparent 
and  extrinsic  qualities  of  the  style  of  Bossuet.  No  one'has  made 
such  use  of  the  French  language  as  he  has  done,  nor  drawn  from 
it  such  admirable  effects.  In  the  second  place  no  orator  has 
ever  more  sincerely  despised  the  artifices  of  rhetoric,  and  while 
not  affecting  a  rudeness  and  a  familiarity  which  would  be, 
perhaps,  only  a  less  frank  and  more  subtle  manner  of  self- 
seeking,  no  writer  has  ever  been  less  the  slave  of  the  superstition 
of  form.  His  eloquence  is  characterised  by  poetry  of  ideas, 
by  suggestiveness,  by  vivacity,  and  by  the  splendour  of  its 
imagery.  I  have  drawn  your  attention  to  the  fact  that  not 
even  once  in  half  a  century  did  literary  vanity  put  his  voice  or 


THE  CENTENARY  OF  BOSSUET 


325 


pen  in  motion  ;  and  that  in  the  forty  volumes  which  we  possess 
from  him,  he  never  wrote  a  page  inspired  by  the  interest  of  self- 
love  .  .  .  His  sole  preoccupation  was  to  convey  to  the  minds 
of  his  hearers  his  own  convictions  of  the  divinity  of  his  faith.^*' 

In  another  place  he  writes  :  '  I  call  him  the  greatest  of 
orators,  and  such  he  is  as  far  as  the  eternal  interests  he  treats 
of  in  his  sermons  are  above  those  which  inspired  the  speeches 
of  a  Demosthenes,  or  a  Cicero,  or  a  Mirabeau.'^^ 

Pere  Loughaye,  s.j.,  speaks  of  Bossuet's  sermons  as 
not  only  very  eloquent  but  also  as  eminently  practical ;  and 
Pere  Delaporte,  in  the  Etudes  Religieuses  (April,  1889),  says 
that  it  is  more  profitable  to  read  twenty  pages  of  Bossuet 
than  one  hundred  volumes  of  sermon  books. 

Such  is  the  verdict  of  the  most  competent  critics  of  the 
present  day.  It  is  a  verdict  based  on  a  careful  examination 
of  the  sermons  of  Bossuet.  Let  us  see,  then,  what  account 
those  sermons  give  of  themselves.  Only  seven  sermons  of 
Bossuet,  viz.,  the  sermon  on  the  unity  of  the  Church,  and 
six  funeral  orations,  were  published  in  his  own  lifetime. 
All  his  other  sermons  remained  in  manuscript  until  nearly 
seventy  years  after  his  death.  From  the  keeping  of  his 
nephew  they  passed  through  many  hands.  The  first  edition 
of  them  were  published  in  1772  by  a  Benedictine  of  St. 
Maur,  Dom  Deforis.  This  edition  was  never  completed, 
and  many  faults  have  been  found  with  the  manner  in  which 
it  was  brought  out.  Liberties  were  taken  with  the  text, 
especially  where  two  sermons  on  the  same  subject  were 
found  among  the  manuscripts.  Let  us  take  a  few  instances. 
To  the  second  sermon  on  the  Circumcision  we  find  attached 
the  following  note  :  '  We  have  suppressed  in  this  sermon 
several  passages  taken  textually  from  the  previous  discourse, 
and  which  could  be  retrenched  without  injury  to  the  order 
and  connection  of  the  discourse.  We  shall  do  the  like  on 
all  occasions  when  circumstances  permit,  in  order  to  avoid 
too  frequent  repetitions.'  In  the  third  sermon  on  the  same 
subject  the  following  note  occurs  :  '  Here  a  leaf  of  the  manu- 


326 


THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


script  is  missing.  To  connect  what  follows  with  the  fore- 
going, we  have  endeavoured  to  fill  up  the  void  by  inserting 
the  passage  which  we  have  placed  in  brackets.'  In  a  sermon 
for  the  clothing  of  a  nun  we  find  a  similar  note  :  — 

This  passage  in  Bossuet's  manuscript  is  not  connected  with 
what  goes  before.  But  as  the  sermon  is  unfinished,  to  complete 
it  as  far  as  possible,  we  have  thought  it  right  to  insert  this  frag- 
ment which  falls  in  with  the  subject  treated  in  the  first  point ; 
and  which  was  probably  written  for  a  similar  occasion. 

These  instances  show  that  the  dissatisfaction  felt  with  the 
edition  of  Deforis  was  not  unreasonable. 

A  second  edition  of  Bossuet's  sermons  was  published 
at  Versailles  (1813-ig),  by  the  Abbe  Aubrive,  who  contented 
himself  with  pointing  out  the  defects  of  the  edition  of 
Deforis,  but  did  not  correct  them. 

In  1862  Abbe  Lachat  published,  through  Vives,  the  com- 
plete works  of  Bossuet  including  the  sermons.  This  edition 
left  several  sermons  in  the  same  incorrect  state  in  which 
they  had  been  published  by  previous  editors.  In 
1866  Abbe  Gandar  published  a  critical  edition  of  a  selection 
of  Bossuet's  sermons,  which  is  highly  esteemed.  But  to 
the  Abbe  Lebarq,'''^'  a  priest  of  the  diocese  of  Rouen,  belongs 
the  honour  of  having  produced  a  truly  critical  edition  of 
the  sermons  of  Bossuet.  He  spared  no  pains  in  the  pre- 
paration of  that  edition.  The  manuscripts  of  Bossuet's 
sermons  still  exist.  The  greater  part,  forming  five  volumes, 
are  to  be  seen  at  the  Bibliotheque  Nationale;^^  twelve  sermons 
are  preserved  in  the  diocesan  seminary  at  Meaux,  and  a 
few  others  in  private  collections.  All  these  Abbe  Lebarq 
carefully  examined  and  published,  arranging  them  in  chrono- 
logical order  ;  and  prefixing  to  each  a  short  account  of  the 
circumstances  in  which  it  was  delivered.  It  was  Bossuet's 
practice  to  write  the  exordium  of  his  discourse  last  of  all, 
and  sometimes  on  a  separate  sheet.  In  consequence,  the 
exordium  of  several  sermons  had  become  displaced,  and  in 


It 


THE  CENTENARY  OF  BOSSUfiT 


327 


some  of  the  earlier  editions,  sermons  are  given  with  exor- 
diums which  do  not  belong  to  them.  Lebarq  has  succeeded 
in  rectifying  this  mistake,  and  has  produced  an  edition,  of 
which  Brunetiere-"  says  that  '  it  is  one  of  the  best,  the  most 
complete,  and  the  most  definitive  which  exists  of  any  of 
our  great  classic  authors  ;'  and  a  writer  in  the  Etudes  Reli- 
gieuscs  says  that  '  it  is  the  only  edition  which  a  literary 
man,  or  a  historian,  who  cares  to  be  exact,  can  henceforward 
quote.'  But  the  Abbe  Lebarq  has  done  more  than  produce 
a  critical  edition  of  Bossuet's  sermons.  He  has  shown  how 
indefatigable  Bossuet  was  in  preaching.  His  edition  con- 
tains 235  sermons,  viz.,  10  funeral  orations,  21  panegyrics 
of  saints,  and  over  200  sermons.  He  points  out  that,  in 
historical  documents,  there  is  found  mention  of  at  least  300 
other  sermons  which  have  not  been  preserved.  Anyhow, 
what  remains  of  Bossuet's  sermons  exceeds  what  has  been 
preserved  of  Bourdaloue,  or  of  Massillon.  He  establishes 
also  the  great  excellence  of  Bossuet's  sermons.  The  depre- 
ciatory criticism  of  La  Harpe  and  others  was  based  on  ill- 
arranged  and  imperfect  editions,  in  which  the  sermons  of 
his  earlier  years  were  placed  side  by  side  with  those  he 
delivered  in  maturer  life.  Even  in  men  of  talent  there  is 
a  period  of  formation  and  of  growth.  As  Bossuet  expresses 
it  in  his  first  sermon  on  the  Nativity  of  the  B.V.  Mary  : — 

Neither  art,  nor  nature,  nor  God  Himself  produce  all  at 
once  their  greatest  works.  They  advance  by  degrees.  One 
sketclies  before  one  paints  ;  one  prepares  a  plan  before  building  ; 
masterpieces  are  preceded  by  trial  efforts  ;  nature  acts  in  like 
manner  ;  and  they  who  study  its  secrets,  know  that  there  are 
works  in  which  it  plays,  so  to  speak,  or  rather  exercises  its  hand, 
in  order  to  produce  something  more  finished.^ 

So  it  was  with  Bossuet.  The  first  efforts  of  his  elo- 
quence, as,  for  instance,  his  sermon  on  St.  Gorgonius,  were 
not  perfect.  But  his  genius  quickly  ripened  ;  and  from 
the  time  of  his  appearance  in  the  pulpits  of  Paris,  in  1659, 
to  his  last  discourse  in  1702,  his  talent  knew  no  waning. 


328  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


Critics,  such  as  M.  Brunetiere,^^  distinguish  three  styles  or 
periods  in  the  preaching  of  Bossuet.  The  first  is  didactic 
and  theological ;  the  second,  philosophical  and  moral ;  and 
the  third  homiletic.  The  first  style  characterises  the 
sermons  of  his  earlier  years.  They  are  less  skilful  in  con- 
struction and  are  replete  with  dissertations.  The  master- 
piece of  this  manner  is  the  panegyric  of  St.  Paul  a  discourse 
full  of  splendid  eloquence,  preached  in  Paris  for  the  opening 
of  the  Hospital  General  in  1657.  In  the  second  style  the 
plan  of  the  discourse  is  more  original  and  the  language 
more  easy.  The  preacher  was  now  addressing  the  cultured 
audiences  of  the  capital,  and  he  endeavours  to  make  them 
understand  that,  apart  from  the  other  motives  for  belief,  of  all 
philosophies  there  is  none  which  so  fully  explains  and  satisfies 
the  nature  of  man  as  religion.  The  third  style  characterises 
the  sermons  preached  after  his  promotion  to  the  see  of 
Meaux.  It  is  homiletic  and  full  of  the  language  and  spirit 
of  the  Gospel. 

In  the  structure  of  his  discourses,  Bossuet  foUows,  to  a 
great  extent,  the  custom  of  the  period.  It  was  then  the 
usage  to  introduce  a  discourse  by  two  exordiums,  one  more 
general,  ending  at  the  Ave  Maria  ;  and  the  other  leading 
up  to  the  statement  of  the  subject  and  its  divisions.  To 
this  usage,  inartistic  though  it  was,  Bossuet  conformed. 
In  the  plan  of  his  discourses  he  does  not  confine  himself 
to  developing  three  ideas  juxtaposed.  His  divisions,  if  in 
appearance  less  methodical  than  those  of  other  preachers 
of  the  period,  were  always  logical,  giving  expression  to  the 
natural  development  of  the  subject  in  hand.  His  sermons, 
if  diligently  studied,  cannot  fail  to  be  useful  to  preachers. 
He  treats  of  a  wide  range  of  subjects,  of  death  and  judgment 
and  penance  and  prayer  and  almsgiving,  and  the  Passion 
of  Our  Lord,  of  the  festivals  of  the  B.V.  Mary,  St.  Joseph, 
and  the  saints.  Whoever  desires  to  find  noble  thoughts 
nobly  expressed  on  charity  and  almsgiving,  on  Our  Lord 
and  the  Blessed  Virgin,  on  the  mysteries  of  religion,  will 


THE  CENTENARY  OF  BOSSUET 


329 


find  them  in  Bossuet.  If  the  subject  is  great,  as  the  career 
of  St.  Paul,  he  is  full  of  majesty  ;  if  it  treats  of  suffering,  as  the 
compassion  of  Mary,  he  is  full  of  tenderness  and  sympathy. 
One  learns  from  him  how  to  speak  to  the  great  of  their 
duty  with  a  firmness  which  is  never  wanting  in  respect. 
He  often  preached  in  the  presence  of  royalty,  and  in  the 
of  kings  he  held  aloft  the  standard  of  duty.  He  prayed  to 
God  to  assist  him  in  a  function  so  difficult  and  so  delicate  ; — 

O  God  [he  cried  out-^]  give  efficacy  to  my  words.  Thou  seest, 
O  God,  the  place  in  which  I  speak  ;  Thou  knowest  what  I  ought 
to  say  ;  give  me  words  of  wisdom.  Give  me  words  of  efficacy 
and  power.  Give  me  prudence,  give  me  circumspection,  give 
me  simplicity. 

In  a  private  letter  to  Louis  XIV.,  in  1675,  he  did  not 
shrink  from  reminding  that  monarch  of  a  promise  he  had 
made  to  approach  the  Sacraments  at  Pentecost.  Referring 
to  Mme.  de  Montespan,  he  said  :  '  How  difficult  it  is  to  with- 
draw from  so  unhappy  and  disastrous  an  engagement. 
But,  Sire,  it  is  necessary,  otherwise  there  is  no  hope  of 
salvation. '^^  In  public  discourses  he  spoke  no  less  firmly. 
In  a  sermon  in  presence  of  the  King,  delivered  on  Easter 
day,  he  concludes  as  follows  : — 

Sire,  who  knows  better  than  you,  how  to  secure  a  victory  ? 
...  In  the  war  which  Christians  have  to  wage  there  is  neither 
peace  nor  truce.  For,  if  the  world  sometimes  ceases  to  attack 
us  from  without,  we  ourselves,  by  our  continual  combats,  never 
cease  to  expose  our  salvation  to  danger.  The  enemy  is  always 
at  the  gates,  and  the  least  relaxation,  the  least  turning  back, 
the  least  looking  back  to  the  past,  may  cause  all  our  victories 
to  vanish  in  a  moment,  and  place  us  in  greater  danger  than 
before.  After  triumph  we  must  arm  anew.  Put  on.  Sire,  the 
armour  of  which  St.  Paul  speaks,'-'  faith,  prayer,  zeal,  humility, 
fervour.  It  is  only  thus  you  can  secure  victory  amid  the  temp- 
tations and  infirmities  of  this  life.  Arbiter  of  the  world, 
superior  even  to  fortune  if  fortune  were  a  reality,  here  is  the 
only  occasion  in  which  you  need  not  be  ashamed  to  fear.  For 
you  there  is  only  one  enemy  to  be  dreaded,  yourself.  Sire,  yourself; 
your  victories,  that  unlimited  power  so  necessary  for  the  govern- 


'  Sermon  sur  la  oredicatinn  pvancrpliniif>. 


330  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


ment  of  the  state,  so  dangerous  for  the  government  of  yourself. 
That  is  the  only  enemy  you  have  to  fear.  He  who  is  all  powerful 
is  not  powerful  enough.  He  who  is  all  powerful  ordinarily 
turns  his  power  against  himself.  When  the  world  grants  us 
every  thing  it  is  only  too  difficult  to  refuse  oneself  anything. 
But  it  is  a  great  glory  and  perfect  virtue,  to  be  able,  like  you, 
to  set  limits  to  oneself,  to  remain  within  the  limits  of  law,  when 
the  law  itself  seems  to  give  way.  To  live  within  the  rule,  which 
subjects  every  creature  to  God,  it  is  necessary.  Sire,  to  descend 
at  times  from  the  throne.  The  example  of  Jesus  Christ  shows 
with  sufficient  clearness,  that  he  who  descends  is  he  who  ascends. 
'  He  who  descended,'  says  St.  Paul,  '  to  the  depths  of  the  earth 
is  He  who  ascended  to  the  highest  heavens.'  However  great 
one  is,  it  is  necessary  to  descend  with  him  ;  to  descend  to 
humble  oneself,  to  descend  to  obey,  to  descend  to  compassionate 
and  to  hearken  more  nearly  to  the  voice  of  misery  and  bring 
it  the  solace  worthy  of  so  great  a  power.  Thus  it  was  that  Jesus 
Christ  descended.  He  who  thus  descends  soon  ascends  again. 
Sire,  this  is  the  elevation  I  wish  you.  Thus  your  greatness 
will  be  eternal,  your  kingdom  will  never  fail.  We  shall  see 
you  always  a  King,  always  crowned,  always  victorious  in  this 
world  and  in  the  next,  through  the  grace  and  blessing  of  the 
Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost.''^ 

What  rank,  then,  shall  we  assign  to  Bossuet  ?  The 
testimony  of  contemporaries,  the  judgment  of  posterity, 
and  the  intrinsic  excellence  of  the  sermons  themselves, 
entitle  us  to  regard  Bossuet  as  ranking,  with  St.  Chrysostom 
and  St.  Augustine,  amongst  the  greatest  preachers  the 
Church  has  ever  seen. 

Patrick  Boyle,  CM. 


[To  be  conHntied.l 


f 


[  331  ] 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  SCAPULAR— III 

{From  Original  Sources.) 

THE  SABBATINE  INDULGENCE 

THE  questions  we  have  submitted  to  examination  in  the 
preceding  articles,  though  not  devoid  of  difficulty  and 
obscurity,  were  simple  and  easy  compared  with  the  one 
we  are  now  about  to  investigate.  Although  we  can  by  no 
means  assume  that  absolute  proof  has  been  given  concern- 
ing the  promise  of  Our  Lady  attached  to  the  Carmelite 
habit,  still  we  think  that  the  chain  of  evidence  of  the 
fourteenth  century,  notwithstanding  its  incompleteness,  is 
sufficiently  strong  to  support  the  tradition,  of  the  existence 
of  which  we  obtain  a  glimpse  at  least  at  the  beginning,  in 
the  middle  and  at  the  end  of  that  century  through  the 
writings  of  Swanyngton,  Sibert,  William  de  Coventry,  and 
Johannes  Grossi,  in  addition  to  other  evidential  incidents. 
From  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century  to  the  present 
time  there  is  no  interruption  of  evidence  whatever.  The 
fact  itself  seems  never  to  have  been  questioned  until  about 
1640  when  the  Order  was  able  to  produce  the  most  impor- 
tant document,  namely,  the  narrative  of  St.  Simon  Stock's 
companion  and  secretary.  It  is,  perhaps,  regrettable  that 
scepticism  should  not  have  been  raised  at  an  earlier  date 
because  it  might  then  have  resulted  in  the  preservation  of 
documents  which  are  now  entirely  lost.  However  that  may 
be,  we  submit  that  the  evidence  in  hand  is  sufficient  to 
strengthen  and  uphold  the  existing  tradition.  Taken  by 
itself  it  might  not  be  considered  indisputable,  and  the  docu- 
ments in  hand  might  appear  too  isolated,  but  tradition 
plus  written  evidence  cannot  easily  be  disputed. 

With  regard  to  the  Sabbatine  Indulgence  the  facts  are 
widely  different,  for  although  there  does  exist  a  tradition, 


332  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


alleged  miraculous  event.  Such  a  state  of  things  might 
well  deter  a  more  learned  student  from  dealing  with  the 
matter  at  all,  and  if  v/e  venture  upon  it,  it  is  only  with  the 
impression  of  throwing  some  light  upon  the  difficulties  that 
surround  it.  If  we  succeed  in  this  we  shall  be  convinced 
of  having  done  as  much  as  possible  until  some  further  dis- 
covery be  made  (of  which  there  is  little  hope)  that  will  have  a 
positive  bearing  upon  the  matter  and  change  its  whole  aspect- 

In  dealing  with  the  Sabbatine  Indulgence  we  have 
thought  it  better  for  our  purpose  to  begin  with  the  second 
part  of  the  history  which  is  indisputable,  and  reserve  the 
first  part  for  the  end. 

Arnold  Bostius,  for  many  years  Prior  of  Ghent,  and  one 
of  the  most  prominent  men  of  his  time,  wrote  several  works 
on  the  history  of  the  Carmelites,  namely,  in  1475  a  book 
on  the  illustrious  writers  of  the  Order,  in  1479  one  on  the 
Patronage  of  Our  Lady,  and  in  1490  a  work  entitled,  Specu- 
lum Historiale,  an  abridgment  of  which  is  printed  in  the 
first  volume  of  the  Speculum  Carmelitanum  by  P.  Daniel 
a  Virgine  Maria.  Bostius  was  in  correspondence  with  the 
leading  men  of  his  Order.  As  early  as  1475  he  exchanged 
letters  with  Blessed  John  Baptist  Spagnuoli  (Mantuanus), 
whom  he  exhorted  to  continue  his  literary  work.  In  1497 
and  the  following  year  he  wrote  a  number  of  letters  (still 
extant)  to  his  intimate  friend,  John  Oudewater  (better  known 
by  his  Latin  name,  de  Aquaveteri  and  its  Greek  equivalent, 
Paleonydor),  then  sub-prior  at  Frankfort,  from  which  we 
obtain  an  idea  of  the  extent  of  his  correspondence,  and, 
what  is  more,  of  his  critical  faculty  ;  for,  when  Paleonydor's 
Fasciculus  Tripariitus  appeared  (1497),  he  frankly  criti- 
cised some  of  the  statements  therein  contained.  '  There 
are  many  things  in  your  book,'  he  says,  '  which  do  not 
please  me.  You  have  inserted  matters  which  in  my  opinion 
should  have  been  omitted  ex  certa  scientia.'  After  having 
dwelt  for  some  time  on  one  of  them  which  does  not  concern 
us  here,  he  continues  : — 


<  v-^,,        ^^^^  +^ 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  SCAPULAR 


333 


considers  all  the  ancient  monks  and  nuns  as  Carmelites.  Had  I 
but  seen  your  manuscript  I  should  have  advised  you  to  omit 
such  things,  but  now  my  corrections  come  too  late. 

This  criticism,  which  might  with  equal  truth  be  addressed 
to  some  more  recent  writers,  proves  that  Bostius  was  no 
blind  adherent  of  time-honoured  opinions  which,  however 
well  meant,  are  often  sadly  deficient  in  solidity.  Bostius  died 
on  the  4th  of  April,  1499,  at  a  ripe  old  age  and  in  high 
repute  for  sanctity. 

In  his  work  on  the  Patronage  of  Our  Lady^  written  in 
1479,  he  professedly  dealt  with  all  the  favours  bestowed 
by  her  upon  the  Carmelite  Order,  dwelling  particularly  on 
the  vision  of  St.  Simon  Stock  of  which  he  gives  a  detailed 
account.  But  he  says  not  a  word  about  the  Sabbatine 
Indulgence  :  a  sure  proof  that  he  had  not  yet  heard  of  it. 
This  is  all  the  more  surprising  since  even  then  he  was  in 
correspondence  with  the  leading  men  of  the  Order.  When, 
in  1497,  he  prepared  a  work  on  St.  Joachim  in  order  to 
promote  devotion  to  this  great  saint  and  pave  the  way 
towards  the  introduction  of  his  feast  (which  was  accom- 
plished at  the  General  Chapter  of  1498),  he  wrote  right  and 
left  on  the  project  and  in  return  received  suggestions  from 
various  quarters.  There  is  no  reason  why  he  should  have 
made  any  secret  about  the  Patronage,  and  his  silence  in 
that  work  on  the  Sabbatine  privilege,  implies  that  not 
only  he  but  also  his  friends,  were  ignorant  of  the  subject. 

Balduin  Leersius,  of  the  convent  of  Arras,  who  died  in 
1483,  wrote  (probably  shortly  before  his  death)  a  book 
entitled  Collection  of  Examples  and  Miracles,'^  in  which  we 
find  the  following  passage  :— 

Chapter  VI. — How  the  Blessed  Virgin  appearing  to  Pope 
John  XXII.  commanded  him  to  grant  the  Carmelites 
privileges  and  to  defend  them  from  their  adversaries  even 
as  she  had  promised  to  set  him  free  from  his  enemies. 

Pope  John  XXII.  being  in  a  state  of  the  greatest  anxiety 
and  sorely  tried  from  external  sources,  had  recourse  to  the 


334  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


glorious  Virgin  Mary,  Mother  of  God.  One  day  previous  to 
his  election  to  the  Papacy  whilst  devoutly  occupied  in  beseech- 
ing her  assistance  she  appeared  to  him  wearing  the  Carmelite 
habit,  and  speaking  to  him  thus  said  :  '  O  John  !  John  !  Vicar 
of  my  beloved  Son,  as  I  am  about  to  deliver  thee  from  thy 
adversary  and  through  my  prayers  obtain  for  thee  the  place 
of  Vicar  of  my  Son  upon  earth,  see  that  thou  upon  whom  such 
a  grace  will  be  conferred  at  my  intercession,  make  some  return 
to  my  Order  and  to  those  brethren  who  are  mine.  Confirm 
their  rule  which  was  begun  by  Elias  and  Eliseus  on  Mount 
Carmel,  put  into  form  by  my  servant,  Albert  the  Patriarch  and 
ratified  by  Innocent,  thy  predecessor  and  Vicar  of  my  Son,  for 
the  remission  of  their  sins.*  Grant  also  to  this  Order  on  my 
behalf  and  in  my  name,  the  privilege  that  whosoever  enters  it 
and  adheres  faithfully  to  its  Rule  shall  enjoy  eternal  life  and 
be  free  from  penalty  and  sin.  And  I,  the  Mother  of  Grace,  will, 
if  any  of  them  should  go  to  Purgatory,  descend  thereto  at  once 
{subito)  after  their  death  and  release  and  bring  to  the  holy  mount 
of  eternal  life,  as  many  as  I  may  find  there.'  Whereupon,  adding 
other  things,  she  disappeared. 

As  soon  as  he  was  established  on  his  throne,  the  Pope  dis- 
charged to  the  best  of  his  power  every  one  of  these  commands. 
He  bestowed  favours  upon  the  Order  in  every  sense  raising  it 
to  an  honourable  position  besides  granting  it  privileges  and  other 
Apostolical  blessings.  From  the  numerous  Bulls  given  by  him 
to  the  Order,  it  will  be  seen  that  not  one  of  his  predecessors  was 
so  lavish  in  their  privileges  as  he.  The  account  of  this  reve- 
lation and  apparition  is  said  to  be  contained  in  a  Bull  with 
seal  appended,  in  England,  and  in  the  convent  at  Genoa  there 
is  an  authentic  copy  more  explicit  than  the  above  account. 

Bostius,  in  his  Speculum  Historiale,  written  in  1490, 
copied  this  paragraph  almost  verbally,  without  adding  a 
word  of  explanation  about  his  silence  on  the  subject  in 
1479.^ 

A  few  years  later  appeared  Paleonydor's  Fasciculus 
TripartiUis^  already  mentioned.  In  the  eleventh  chapter 
of  the  third  part  he  speaks  as  follows  : — 

The  most  glorious  Mother  of  God,  the  Virgin  Mary,  perpe- 
tual patron  and  most  tender  Mother  of  the  Carmelites,  con- 


^  Honorius,  confirming  the  Rule  in  1226,  enjoined  it  '  in  remissionem 
peccatorum.'    These  words  do  not  occur  in  the  Bull  of  confirmation  of 

Tnnnrpnt  TV. 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  SCAPULAR  335 


tinued  to  glorify  Jonathan  (that  is  the  Dove),  I  mean  the  Order 
of  Carmel  which  is  distinguished  ahke  by  candour  and  a  wise 
simphcity,  and  mindful  of  Elias  and  the  olden  days  and  her 
faithful  servants,  appeared  to  the  Lord  John  XXII.  previous 
to  his  election,  saying :  '  I  have  been  sensible  of  thy  devotion 
towards  me,  and  now  as  I  am  about  to  free  thee  from  thy  adver- 
sary and  raise  thee  to  the  supreme  dignity,  thou  oughtest  to 
grant  something  in  return  to  my  brethren,  the  sons  of  Elias. 
Establish,  then,  on  a  solid  basis"  their  Rule  begun  by  Elias 
and  Eliseus  on  Mount  Carmel,  and  given  them  in  writing  by 
my  servant  Albert.  Also  at  my  Son's  request  and  mine,  bestow 
upon  them  the  privilege  that  whosoever  enters  this  Order  shall 
be  freed  from  sin  and  its  punishment,  and  obtain  eternal  salva- 
tion,' etc. 

This  apparation  is  said  to  be  in  a  Bull  with  seal  appended, 
containing  the  Indulgence,  and  preserved  in  England,  an  authen- 
tic copy  of  the  same  being  in  the  convent  of  Genoa.  This  John 
XXII.,  obeying  the  Divine  commands,  placed  our  Order  under 
the  protection  of  the  Apostolic  See,  etc. 

It  would  be  useless  to  adduce  further  evidence  as  to  the 
promulgation  of  the  Sabbatine  Indulgence  from  this  time 
forward. 

The  General  Chapter  held  at  Pentecost,  1517,  in  Siena, 
empowered  the  General  to  impose  a  special  tax  on  the 
various  provinces  to  defray  the  expenses  of  a  Bull  con- 
firming this  Indulgence,'^  but  for  some  reason  of  other  no 
such  confirmation  appears  to  have  been  obtained.  The 
acts  of  the  next  Chapter  (1524)  are  silent  about  the  pro- 
jected taxation,  and  there  are  no  traces  of  such  a  Bull 
either  in  the  official  collection  of  the  Order  or  in  the  Vatican 
archives.  But  in  1528,  Clement  VII.  granted  a  Brief  by 
which  the  Bull  of  John  XXII.  was  expressly  confirmed. 
The  terms  are  verbally  taken  from  the  original  Sabbatine 
Bull  (of  which  more  anon)  and  the  Pontiff  declares  that  by 
his  Apostolic  authority  he  approves  and  renews  the  same, 
and  commands  it  to  remain  in  full  vigour.  He  also  pre- 
scribed that  within  the  space  of  a  year  this  Brief  should  be 


°  This  is  again  an  allusion  to  the  decree  of  the  Council  of  1274,  where 
the  Carmelites  are  allowed  'in  solido  statu  permauere.' 


336  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


replaced  by  a  proper  Bull,  but  this  term  having  been  allowed 
to  elapse,  the  Bull  of  confirmation  was  not  issued  till  7th 
August,  1530.  In  the  preface  the  Pope  says  that  he  has 
been  approached  by  the  General  of  the  Order  with  a  request 
to  confirm  all  the  privileges  and  indulgences  granted  by 
former  pontiffs,  because  the  Order  being  extremely  poor, 
it  was  hoped  that  the  knowledge  of  these  favours  would 
induce  the  faithful  to  contribute  towards  its  maintenance. 
Among  the  privileges  thus  confirmed,  the  Sabbatine  Indul- 
gence occupies  the  first  place,  the  words  being  again  taken 
from  the  Bull  of  John  XXII.^  The  next  General  Chapter, 
held  at  Padua  on  Pentecost,  1532,  being  anxious  to  com- 
plete the  fabric  of  the  church  and  convent  of  S.  Maria  in 
Transpontina  in  Rome,  decreed  as  follows  : — 

Likewise  we  order  and  decide  that  each  provincial  shall 
labour  faithfully  and  sincerely  for  the  publication  of  the  Bull 
recently  issued  by  our  most  Holy  Father  Clement  VII.,  con- 
firming our  privileges  and  indults  and  granting  us  new  ones  in 
addition.  And  that  whatever  alms  may  be  obtained  between 
the  first  day  of  publication  and  one  year  afterwards,  inclusive, 
shall  be  divided  into  two  equal  parts,  whereof  one  shall  be  handed 
over  to  the  fabric  of  our  convent  in  the  Transpontina  ;  the  other 
half  shall  belong  to  the  convent  where  the  Bull  has  been  pub- 
lished and  executed,  after  deduction  of  the  actual  cost.  Nor 
shall  anyone  publish  it  otherwise  than  according  to  the  form  to 
be  delivered.^ 

Further  confirmations  were  given  by  Paul  III.,  St.  Pius 
v.,  Gregory  XIII.,  Paul  V.,  and  many  other  Popes. 

It  goes  without  saying  that  from  time  to  time  there 
arose  disputes  concerning  this  privilege.    The  most  serious 


"  See  the  Bullarium  and  also  Daniel,  loc.  cit.,  ii.,  550. 

"  '  Item  ordinamus  et  decerniraus  quod  unusquisque  provincialis  fideliter 
et  sincere  laborabit  circa  publicationem  bullae  confirmationis  privilegiorum  et 
indultorum  de  novo  concessorum  per  S.  D.  N.  papam  Clementem  VII.  Et 
quidquid  eleeraosynarum  habitum  fuerit  a  primo  die  publicationis  usque  ad 
terminum  unius  anni  completi  dividetur  in  duas  partes  quarum  una  cedet 
fabricae  conventus  nostrae  Transpontini,  Reliqua  vero  pars  cedet  conventui 
ubi  publicabitur  et  executioni  demandabitur.  Deductis  tamen  prius  solis 
expensis  laborantium  a  principali  summa.  Nec  aliquis  publicabit  nisi  juxta 
formam  tradendam.'  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  remind  the  reader  that  the 
Council  of  Trent,  havine  forbidden  to  ask  for  alms  on  the  strpnoth  nf  indnt. 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  SCAPULAR 


337 


attack  upon  it  was  made  at  Lisbon  in  1609.  Among  the 
reasons  brought  forward  to  induce  the  King  of  Spain  (Por- 
tugal being  then  under  the  Spanish  crown)  to  prohibit  its 
pubhcation  was  a  complaint  made  by  the  royal  exchequer 
that  the  extra  day  of  abstinence  observed  by  those  desirous 
of  gaining  the  Sabbatine  Indulgence,  deprived  the  crown  of 
taxes  to  the  amount  of  30,000  scudi  per  annum.  The 
more  important  question,  however,  was  of  course  the  theo- 
logical and  historical  one,  and  this  was  submitted  to  the 
Holy  Office  in  Rome.  Various  circumstances  retarded  the 
final  decision,  which  was  only  given  on  the  iith  of  February, 
1613. 

During  the  proceedings  of  the  Congregation  it  happened 
that  one  day  being  the  Vigil  of  the  feast  of  Our  Lady  of 
Mount  Carmel,  one  of  the  Cardinals  belonging  to  the  Con- 
gregation of  Inquisition  happening  to  enter  the  church  of 
the  Discalced  Carmelites  of  La  Scala,  picked  up  a  breviary, 
where  he  found  in  the  lessons  of  the  feast,  approved  by 
Cardinal  Bellarmine,  the  following  passage  relative  to  the 
subject  in  question  : — 

Not  only  in  this  life,  but  also  in  the  next  (since  her  power 
and  mercy  are  everywhere  great)  does  the  Blessed  Virgin  favour 
her  chosen  Order,  for  there  exists  a  pious  belief  that  she  will 
without  delay  console,  and  bring  to  the  heavenly  land,  those  sons 
of.  hers  who,  having  belonged  to  the  Society  of  the  Scapular 
while  on  earth,  are  now  in  Purgatory,  if  they  have  practised 
some  abstinence,  recited  the  prayers  prescribed,  and  observed 
chastity  according  to  their  state  of  life.  For  so  many  and  such 
great  privileges  bestowed  upon  it,  the  Order  instituted  the 
annual  celebration  of  the  Commemoration  of  the  Blessed  Virgin 
Mary. 

This  text  greatly  influenced  the  deliberations,  and  in  due 
time  there  appeared  the  following  decree  of  the  Sacred 
Congregation  : — 

It  is  lawful  for  the  Carmelite  fathers  to  preach  that  Chris- 
tians may  piously  believe  in  the  help  promised  to  the  souls  of 

the  brethren  and  members  of  the  Confraternity  of  the  Blessed 
^N^^v,  A/f'.^tt  ^4'  Tv,T,^,,»..+  ^■^■,~r^^^  T3i^r.,-,-,^i  ■\7';r^;^ 


338 


THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


after  their  death  (which  day  has  been  consecrated  to  her  by  the 
Church),  the  souls  of  such  brothers  and  members  of  the Con- 
fraternity who  depart  this  hfe  in  charity  and  who  while  on  earth 
have  worn  the  habit,  observed  chastity  according  to  their  state 
of  life,  recited  the  Little  Of&ce  (or,  if  unable  to  do  so,  have  kept 
the  fasts  of  the  Church),  and  have  abstained  from  the  use  of 
meat  on  Wednesdays  and  Saturdays,  unless  Christmas  fell  on 
one  of  these  days.^" 

i  All  objections  that  have  been  offered  to  the  belief  in  the 
Sabbatine  Indulgence  from  1613  to  the  present  day,  have 
found  their  solution  in  this  decree,  so  that  we  may  dispense 
with  a  detailed  relation. 

We  must  now  return  to  the  end  of  the  iifteenth  century 
when,  as  we  have  seen,  the  Sabbatine  Indulgence  was  first 
mentioned. 

Nothing  was  known  of  it  in  1479  when  Bostius  wrote 
on  the  Patronage,  but  two  or  three  years  later,  Leersius 
was  able  to  give  an  account  not  only  of  the  fact  itself,  but 
also  of  the  documents  referring  to  it.  There  can  be  little  doubt 
that  both  Bostius,  in  his  Speculum,  and  Paleonydor 
quoted  the  same  source  as  Leersius,  if  they  did  not  derive 
their  version  directly  from  his.  The  question  then  arises  : 
Whence  came  Leersius'  information  ? 

Some  years  previously  a  large  work  had  been  published 
under  the  title  of  Mare  Magnum,  being  a  collection  of  all 
the  Papal  indults  and  privileges  arranged  according  to 
subject  matters.  Its  author  was  Friar  John  Maria  Polu- 
tianus  de  Novarola,  belonging  to  the  reform  of  Mantua.  In 
1490  he  appeared  as  Father  Vicar  of  the  convent  of  Novarola, 
and  his  death  is  supposed  to  have  taken  place  in  1505.  Be- 
sides the  Mare  Magnum,  he  published  the  Constitutions  of 
Blessed  John  Soreth,  a  Life  of  St.  Albert,  and  two  or  three 
editions  of  the  Breviary  according  to  the  rules  of  Mantua. 
The  Mare  Magnum  was  submitted  to  and  approved  by  the 
Pope,  and  embodied  in  a  Bull  dated  28th  November,  1476," 
but  being  in  many  respects  incomplete,  two  additional  Bulls 


rianipl    ]nr^  rJ.L    cfiS  .'inn. 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  SCAPULAR  339 


were  issued  in  the  following  year  containing  the  confirma- 
tion of  numerous  indulgences  and  exemptions. ^-^  The  cost 
of  all  this  was  very  heavy  for  so  poor  an  Order  as  were  the 
Carmelites,  for  the  bill  came  to  1,850  scudi  [aurei  de  camera) 
and  necessitated  a  special  taxation  authorised  by  the  General 
Chapter  held  in  1478  at  Brescia  : — 

Taxae  extraordinariae  pro  impetratione  Maris  magni  privile- 
giorum,  indulgentiarum,  revocationis  calixtinae  exceptionis  a 
molestia  inquisitorum  contra  observantes. 

The  English  province  being  one  of  the  most  numerous, 
paid  148  ducats,  Ireland  thirty,  and  Scotland  twenty.  Had 
the  Sabbatine  Bull  been  known  to  Father  Polutianus  de 
Novarola  or  his  collaborators,  it  would  certainly  have  been 
included  in  one  of  these  three  expensive  Bulls.  Such  was 
apparently  not  the  case,  and  yet  the  publication  of  the 
Mare  Magnum  led  indirectly  to  the  discovery  of  this  famous 
document,  for  the  General  Chapter  of  1478  decreed  as 
follows  :  ■  Provinciales  habent  requirere  omnia  privilegia  et 
transumpta  mandare  generali  aut  procuratori  generali.'''^ 

This  decision  of  1478,  and  the  mention  three  or  four 
years  later  of  a  Bull  said  to  be  in  England  with  an  authentic 
copy  at  Genoa,  form  too  striking  a  coincidence  to  be  wholly 
disconnected.  It  may  be  fairly  questioned  whether  the  dis- 
covery of  the  Bull  really  took  place  in  England,  for  Leersius 
only  says  that  it  is  reported  to  be  preserved  in  England  : 
'  dicitur  fore  in  Bulla  plumbea  in  Anglia.'  Evidently,  then, 
neither  he  himself  saw  it  nor  did  his  informant  speak  from 
a  personal  knowledge  of  it  ;  but  the  case  is  different  with 
regard  to  the  authentic  copy,  for  there  he  is  quite  positive  : 
'  et  in  conventu  Januensi  est  ejus  instrumentum  authen- 
ticum  et  magis  amplum  quam  hie  ponitur.' 

Our  conclusion,  therefore,  is  that  this  authenticated  copy 
of  Genoa  was  the  real  source  whence  Leersius  and  his  suc- 
cessors derived  their  information.  It  would  be  superfluous 
to  enquire  into  the  history  of  the  English  document  ;  what- 


340  THE   IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


ever  its  nature  and  contents  may  have  been,  it  certainly 
disappeared  together  with  tlie  rest  of  the  archives  at  the 
suppression  of  tlie  religious  houses.  But  it  is  regrettable 
that  we  possess  no  transcript  of  the  Genoese  parchment. 
When  in  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century  a  search 
was  made  for  it,  a  copy  of  a  Bull  was  indeed  found,  but, 
as  we  shall  see  from  the  sequence,  this  was  quite  a  different 
document.  In  our  opinion  the  London  document  was  no 
Bull  at  all,  and  neither  was  its  copy  at  Genoa.  What  has 
become  of  the  archives  of  Genoa  ?  No  one  knows,  and 
there  seems  little  ground  for  hope  that  much  of  them  is 
preserved. 

The  Bull  found  at  Genoa,  about  1664,  is  one  out  of  some 
sixteen  copies  of  a  document  purporting  to  be  an  of&cial 
transcript  made  at  Majorca  in  1421  of  a  Bull  granted  by 
Alexander  V.  in  1409,  confirming  the  original  Sabbatine 
Bull  of  John  XXII.  which  is  embodied  in  it.  Among  the 
various  copies  there  is  one  of  Genoa  dated  1430,  another 
of  Messina  dated  1443,  and  others  of  later  dates.  The  very 
existence  of  these  early  copies  tells  against  their  alleged 
dates,  for  it  is  inconceivable  that  they  should  have  formed 
part  and  parcel  of  the  various  archives  without  becoming 
known  to  many  members  of  the  Order,  and  if  so,  how  can 
it  be  explained  that  until  1480  the  Order  knew  nothing  of 
so  great  a  privilege  ?  Although  the  printing  press  could 
not  have  helped  much  towards  its  circulation,  and  corre- 
spondence may  have  been  a  luxury,  there  was,  perhaps, 
more  intercouse  between  the  various  provinces  then  than 
at  the  present  time  ;  for  the  General  Chapters  held  at 
intervals  of  from  three  to  six  years,  brought  all  the  leading 
men  together.  Frequently  there  were  as  many  as  five 
hundred,  nay,  a  thousand  Carmelites  to  be  found  on  such 
occasions,^*  and  it  may  be  imagined  that  even  if  the  Chapter 
had  no  opportunity  of  officially  dealing  with  such  matters, 


"  Thus,  in  1393,  at  Albi  (during  the  schism,  when  only  half  the  provinces 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  SCAPJLAR 


there  was  ample  room  for  private  intercourse  and  exchange 
of  news,  and  surely  the  Sabbatine  privilege  was  not  of  so 
trivial  a  nature  as  to  be  passed  over  in  silence  or  to  be  kept 
a  deep  secret.  Moreover,  an  examination  of  this  document 
of  Majorca  shows  clearly  that  the  date  assigned,  142 1,  is 
hopelessly  incorrect.  It  consists  of  three  parts,  namely,  the 
recital  by  the  notary  of  the  legal  formalities  connected  with 
the  copying  of  the  original,  the  Bull  of  Alexander  and  that 
of  John  XXII.  The  former  is  to  the  effect  that  having 
dihgently  inspected  a  privilege  granted  by  John  XXIL 
'  to  the  General  and  the  Brethren  of  the  Order,  and  to  our 
Beloved  in  Christ,  the  daughters  and  sisters,  and  the  con- 
fratres  of  the  Confraternity  of  the  Carmelites,'  he  inserts 
the  text  of  the  said  privilege  so  that  it  may  acquire  greater 
strength.  This  BuU  is  dated  Rome,  St.  Mary  Majors,  7th 
December,  the  first  year  of  our  pontificate.  The  Bull  of 
John  XXII.  is  dated  Avignon,  3rd  March,  the  sixth  year 
of  our  pontificate.  And  if  we  inquire  how  these  Bulls  came 
to  Majorca,  the  notary  gives  the  explanation  that  they 
were  presented  to  him  by  the  venerable  '  Frater  Ilde 
Alphonsus  de  Theramo  de  Regno  Angliae,  Prior  conventus 
Captunensis  Ordinis  S.  Mariae  de  Monte  Carmelo.'  His 
own  deed  is  dated  on  the  year  of  the  Incarnation,  142 1, 
2nd  January,  15th  Indiction,  the  sixth  year  of  Alphonsus, 
King  of  Aragone,  etc. 

Before  examining  the  contents  of  the  Bull  of  John  XXIL, 
it  is  necessary  to  consider  these  chronological  details.  To 
begin  with  Alphonsus  :  he  ascended  the  throne  on  2nd 
April,  1416,  consequently  his  sixth  year  corresponds  to 
2nd  April,  1421 — ist  April,  1422,  whereas  the  indiction  for 
the  year  1421  was  12,  and  for  1422  13.  It  is  also  surprising 
that  a  notary  at  Majorca  should  have  used  common  style 
The  name  of  the  Frater  de  Theramo  presents  greater  diffi- 
culty. If  he  really  were  an  Englishman  his  Christian  name 
cannot  have  been  Alphonsus,  nor  his  surname  Theramo. 
The  former  is,  we  think,  unexampled  in  the  fifteenth  century 
and  for  a  long  time  afterw^ards,^''  while  the  latter,  although 


342 


THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


it  occurs  frequently  in  Italian  deeds  of  that  period,  is 
decidedly  un-English .  The  nearest  approach  to  it  is  Tre vans ; 
indeed  one  of  that  name,  Richard,  became  a  Carmelite, 
and  was  ordained  in  1380  and  the  following  year  at  Win- 
chester, whence  he  probably  proceeded,  like  the  majority 
of  those  who  had  frequented  the  studium  there,  to  Coventry 
for  further  education.  But  it  by  no  means  follows  that 
'  Ilde  Alphonsus  de  Theramo  '  had  anything  to  do  with 
Richard  Trevans,  although  the  historians  of  the  Order  have 
identified  the  '  conventus  Captunensis '  with  Coventry. 
Considering  the  corrupt  state  of  the  document  anything 
may  be  possible,  and  we  shall  suggest  another  solution 
which  will  give  this  Father  Theramo  soul  and  body. 

The  most  serious  objection  to  the  authenticity  of  Alex- 
ander's Bull  is  its  being  dated  from  St.  Mary  Major  at 
Rome.  Alexander  V.  never  was  in  Rome.  Elected  during 
the  Council  of  Pisa,  he  went  as  far  as  Bologna,  where  he 
died  after  a  reign  of  less  than  a  year.  No  modern  historian 
would  have  the  courage  to  defend  the  explanation  offered 
by  former  writers  that  he  may  have  visited  Rome  without 
anybody  knowing  it,  or  that  Rome  should  be  taken  in  the 
allegorical  sense  according  to  the  axiom  Ubi  Petrus  ibi 
ecclesia.  All  these  considerations  are  too  damaging  for  the 
Bull  of  Alexander  V.  to  be  accepted  as  genuine,  but  here 
again  Bale  has  probably  preserved  the  true  version.  In 
tM^o  places  in  his  note-books  he  gives  the  text  of  the  Sabba- 
tine  Bull ;  once  in  the  form  which  is  now  universally  ac- 
cepted, the  other  time  in  a  version  more  closely  resembling 
the  text  quoted  by  Leersius.  He  does  not  say  where  he 
has  found  it,  but  appends  the  following  notice  : — 

Hanc  confirmavit  Alexander  in  primo  [scored  through  and 
replaced  by  sexto]  anno  sui  pontilicatus  datum  in  Avinione 
[scored  through  and  replaced  by  Roma]  3  die  Martii  pontificatus 
nostri  anno  sexto.  Ipse  autem  Johannes  papa  XXII.  hoc  con- 
firmavit in  Avinione  anno  primo  sui  pontificatus  et  Alexander 


bearing  the  Christian  name,  Alphonsus,  was  a  son  of  Edward  I.,  who  became 
Ecirl  of  Chester,  but  predeceased  his  father.  One  feels  tempted  to  quote 
Dickens:  '  If  ever  an  Alphonse  carried  plain  Bill  in  his  face  and  fieure.'  etc 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  SCAPULAR 


343 


praenominatus  in  Roma  confirmavit  anno  sexto  ut  dictum  est 
et  maledictionem  dederunt  omnipotentis  Dei  contravenientibus. 

Here  the  dates  of  the  Majorca  Bull  are  inverted  ;  John's 
Bull  receives  the  date  7th  December,  1316,  and  Alexander's 
3rd  March,  1498,  for  it  is  evident  that  the  sixth  year  of 
Alexander  can  only  refer  to  Alexander  VI.  The  document 
inspected  by  him  is,  then,  none  other  than  the  one  described 
by  Leersius  as  the  authenticated  copy  of  John  XXII. 's 
BuU.^'  This  at  once  explains  many  of  the  bewildering 
peculiarities  of  this  document.  For  if  there  had  been  a 
confirmation  by  Alexander  V.  in  1409,  it  would  be  sur- 
prising that  Leersius  and  his  followers  should  not  have 
mentioned  it,  and  still  more  astonishing  that  the  Mare 
Magnum  should  be  silent  about  the  Bull.  Not  only  is  the 
difficulty  about  the  various  dates  fully  explained  by  our 
theory,  but  the  mysterious  Alphonsus  de  Theramo  turns 
out  to  be  a  well-known  historical  personage.  Negotiations 
between  the  Order  and  the  Roman  Court  were  carried  on 
by  the  Procurator-General,  or,  to  use  his  official  title, 
the  Procurator  Curiensis,  or  Procurator  Conventus  Curiensis, 
which  office  was  held  in  1498  by  Friar  Petrus  Terasse. 
There  was  good  reason  for  seeking  a  Papal  approbation  of 
the  Sabbatine  privilege  in  1498.  It  will  be  remembered 
that  Leersius'  work  was  written  between  1480  and  1483,  and 
Bostius'  in  1491,  but  neither  of  these  can  have  enjoyed  a 
very  large  circulation  since  they  remained  manuscript. 
Paleonydor's  Fasciculus,  which  also  alludes  to  the  Sabbatine 
Bull,  was  printed  in  1497,  and  it  is  certainly  not  a  mere 


"  We  have  endeavoured  to  trace  Alexander  VI.'s  Bull  at  the  Vatican 
archives,  but  without  success— due,  perhaps,  to  want  of  time.  Two  explana- 
tions are  possible,  namely,  that  confirmation  was  only  given  by  word  of  mouth, 
which  would  account  for  the  steps  taken  in  1517,  1528,  and  1530  to  obtain  a 
confirmation,  and  also  that  the  Vatican  registers  are  by  no  means  so  complete 
as  one  would  expect.  Mr.  W.  H.  Bliss,  in  his  Calendar  of  Papal  Registers, 
says  truly  :  '  The  system  of  registration  in  the  Papal  Chancery  was  not,  how- 
ever, nearly  so  perfect  as  that  in  the  Chancery  of  the  English  kings,  and  there 
are  still  extant  in  the  Public  Record  Office,  in  the  British  Museum,  and  else- 
where, many  original  Bulls,  of  which  no  mention  can  be  found  in  the  Regesta' 
(Vol.  I.,  Preface).  There  are  likewise  many  Bulls  of  undoubted  authenticity 
preserved  in  our  archives  which  are  wanting  in  the  Vatican  registers. 


344  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


coincidence  that  we  should  hear  of  a  Papal  approbation  in 
the  following  year. 

It  must  be  acknowledged  that  there  still  remain  some 
obscure  points,  but  on  the  whole  we  believe  that  our  view 
will  bear  investigation.  The  copyist,  whoever  he  was, 
appears  to  have  been  absolutely  incompetent,  for  no  man 
with  the  most  elementary  knowledge  of  paleography  would 
transcribe  the  word  apla  (with  the  sign  of  contraction) 
amplam,  but  apostolicam,  and  he  may  likewise  have  read 
the  contracted  form  for  Procurator  Conventus  Curiensis  : 
Prior  Conventus  Captunensis.  To  this  gross  ignorance  we 
are  further  indebted  for  the  singularly  corrupt  text  of  the 
Bull  that  has  come  down  to  us.  Daniel  has  endeavoured, 
but  with  indifferent  result,  to  compare  all  the  known  copies 
and  by  striking  an  average,  to  obtain  a  reliable  reading. 
We  shall  content  ourselves  with  presenting  the  text  such  as 
it  is.  One  thing,  however,  we  cannot  attempt  to  explain, 
namely,  how  the  transcriber  came  to  insert  the  two  Bulls 
in  an  obviously  misdated  deed.  To  think  of  forgery  is 
almost  doing  him  too  much  honovir  ;  it  may  be  a  case  of 
mere  stupidity. 

If  our  view  is,  as  we  think,  correct,  it  follows  that  the 
confirmation  of  the  Sabbatine  BuU  by  Alexander  VI. 
leaves  the  question  very  much  where  it  was,  and  that 
Leersius'  account  remains  the  earliest  evidence  in  our 
possession. 

The  following  is  as  literal  a  translation  as  its  corrupt 
text  allows  of  that  famous  document  round  which  an  ani- 
mated discussion  has  been  turning  for  four  centuries  : — 

[John,  bishop,  servant  of  the  servants  of  God,  to  all  and  each 
of  the  Faithful  in  Christ,  etc.  As  in  the  highest  court  of  para- 
dise a  sweet  soft  melody  of  angels  is  heard,  arising  from  the 
harmonious  vision  of  Jesus  united  to  His  Eternal  Father  and 
saying  :  I  and  the  Father  are  One,  and  :  he  that  seeth  Me  seeth 
the  Father,  and  the  choir  of  angels  cease  not  to  sing :  Holy,  Holy, 
Holy  ;  so  does  the  synod  pour  forth  incessantly  its  praises  to 
the  Blessed  Virgin,  crying :  Virgin,  Virgin,  Virgin,  be  Thou 
our  mirror  and  our  pattern.  She  is  invested  with  the  office  of 
grace,  as  Holy  Church  sings  :  Mary  full  of  grace,  and  Mother 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  SCAPULAR  345 


saying  :  Hail,  Queen,  Mother  of  Mercy  and  our  Help.  Thus, 
while  I  was  praying  on  bended  knee,  the  Virgin  of  Carmel  ap- 
peared to  me  saying  these  words]^-  O  John,  John,  Vicar  of  my 
beloved  Son,  even  as  I  shall  liberate  thee  from  thy  adversary 
and  bestow  upon  thee  the  Papal  dignity  which  by  my  suppli- 
cations I  have  obtained  for  thee  from  my  dearest  Son,  so  grant 
thou  to  my  beloved  and  holy  Order  of  Carmel  grace  and  apos- 
tolic confirmation.  Whosoever  maketh  profession  in  the  Order 
founded  on  Mount  Carmel  by  Elias  and  Eliseus,  and  observes 
inviolate  the  rule  laid  down  by  my  servant,  the  Patriarch  Albert, 
and  approved  by  my  beloved  son,  Innocent  the  Vicar  of  my 
Son  (for  the  Vicar  of  my  Son  ought  to  consent  on  earth  to  that 
which  my  Son  hath  decreed  in  heaven),  namely,  that  he  who 
shall  persevere  in  holy  obedience,  poverty  and  chastity,  or  who 
shall  enter  the  Order  of  my  Brethren,  shall  be  saved  ;  and  if  others 
for  the  sake  of  devotion  enter  the  holy  Order,  wearing  in  sign 
thereof  the  habit  {habitus  signum  ferentes),  and  calling  them- 
selves confratres  and  consorores  of  the  same,  they  shall  be  freed 
and  absolved  from  a  third  part  of  their  sins  on  the  day  when 
they  enter  it,  provided  they  promise  chastity  if  in  widowhood, 
virginity  if  single,  and  if  married  inviolate  troth  of  the  laws  of 
matrimony  as  Holy  Church  commandeth.  The  professed  breth- 
ren of  the  said  Order  shall  be  loosed  from  guilt  and  punishment, 
and  on  the  day  when  after  this  life  they  hasten  to  purgatory, 
I,  the  glorious  Mother  will  descend  {Sabhato  post  eorum  obitiim  : 
on  the  Saturday  after  their  death  ;  or  subito  :  at  once")  and 
will  set  free  as  many  as  I  shall  find  there,  and  lead  them  to  the 
holy  mountain  of  life  eternal.  However,  these  confratres  and 
consorores  are  bound  to  recite  the  Canonical  Hours  according 
to  the  injunction  of  the  Rule  given  by  Albert.  Those  who  do 
not  know  them  should  keep  the  fast  on  the  days  set  apart  by 
Holy  Church,  unless  there  be  an  impediment  through  some 
necessity  ;  on  Wednesday  and  Saturday  they  should  abstain 
from  flesh  meat,  except  on  the  Nativity  of  my  Son.  After  this, 
the  holy  Vision  disappeared.  [This  holy  indulgence,  therefore, 
I  accept,  authorise  and  confirm  upon  earth,  even  as  Jesus  Christ 
through  the  merits  of  His  Virgin  Mother,  hath  graciously  granted 
in  heaven.    To  no  man,  therefore,  etc.]'" 

Two  things  are  clear  at  first  sight,  namely,  that  the 
text  is  far  from  correct,  the  scribe  having  evidently  had 
great  difficulty  in  reading  the  paper  before  him,  and  secondly 


"  The  beginning  and  end,  placed  within  brackets,  are  omitted  in  Bale's 

MS. 

If  A  ItVi^i-i/YVi   tVifi  "Riill   Kic-    C/^AA/i/rt    fVio  r^r»nf<=ivf  cVinwQ  rl/^nrlv   that  vnhlln 


34^  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


that,  whatever  the  nature  of  John  XXII. 's  document  may 
have  been,  it  certainly  was  no  Bull.  The  technical  forms 
at  the  beginning  and  end  must  have  been  added  when  it 
was  embodied  in  the  Bull  of  confirmation.  We  do  not  pro- 
fess to  know  whether  Popes  at  the  time  of  John  XXII. 
were  in  the  habit  of  writing  private  letters,  or  whether  this 
is  a  fragment  of  autobiography  or  a  confidential  communi- 
cation, but  whatever  it  was,  those  who  thought  there  existed 
in  London  a  Bull  in  due  form  with  seal  appended,  must  have 
been  mistaken.  This  does  not  dispense  us,  however,  from 
facing  the  more  impoitant  question  as  to  whether  the  docu- 
ment has  any  claim  to  authenticity.  Villiers  de  St.  Etienne, 
perhaps  the  most  scholarly  historian  the  Carmelite  Order 
has  produced,  leaves  the  matter  undecided. For  our  part 
we  venture,  after  mature  reflection,  to  uphold  its  claim. 
External  evidence  not  assisting  us  in  this  investigation,  we 
must  rely  on  internal  proofs. 

'  The  first  of  these,  the  general  credibility  of  the  Promise 
of  Our  Lady,  will  be  examined  in  our  final  article  ;  here, 
we  can  only  point  to  those  arguments  which  flow  from  the 
wording  of  our  document. 

We  have  already  shown  that  Leersius,  in  his  account  of 
the  Sabbatine  Bull,  confounds  the  confirmation  of  the  rule 
under  Innocent  IV.  with  that  of  Honorious  III.,  whilst 
Paleonydor  mixes  it  up  with  the  approbation  of  the  Order 
by  the  second  Council  of  Lyons  ;  here  we  find  no  such  con- 
fusion. In  the  Bull  of  Pope  Alexander,  mention  is  made 
of  the  beloved  daughters  the  Carmelite  Sisters.  As  we  have 
seen  in  a  previous  article,  these  were  instituted  about  the 
middle  of  the  fifteenth  century,  accordingly  there  is  no  such 
allusion  to  them  here.  Again,  a  document  of  the  end  of 
the  fifteenth  century  would  unquestionably  have  spoken  of 
the  scapular  as  the  specific  part  of  the  habit  to  be  worn  by 
the  confratres,  whereas  our  Bull  still  keeps  to  the  old  way 
of  considering  the  habit  signmn  habitus  as  the  vehiculum 
of  Our  Lady's  Promise,  without  any  distinction  of  its 
various  parts.    We  lay  much  stress  on  this  point,  because 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  T.IE  SCAPULAR 


347 


a  forger  would  unquestionably  have  blundered  here.  And, 
finally,  we  may  draw  the  attention  of  the  reader  to  the 
simple  and  unobtrusive  way  in  which  the  rule  inchoated 
by  Elias  and  Eliseus  on  Mount  Carmel  is  spoken  of.  As 
time  went  on,  this  shibboleth  became  more  and  more  pro- 
nounced, and  a  late  writer  could  never  have  resisted  the 
temptation  of  improving  upon  the  text.  He  would,  at  the 
very  least,  have  added  a  few  words  to  put  this  sore  point 
in  its  proper  light  for  the  benefit  of  sceptics  ;  it  is  sufficient 
to  cast  a  glance  at  contemporary  authors  to  perceive  the 
full  weight  of  this  argument. 

Our  conclusion,  then,  is  that  this  document  is  of  much 
earlier  date  than  Alexander's  Bull,  and  there  is  no  reason 
why  it  should  not  come  from  Pope  John  XXII.  The  exact 
date  supplied  by  Bale  from  some  unknown  source  lends 
additional  weight  to  this. 

OUR  lady's  promises 

Perhaps  the  chief  objection  brought  against  the  scapular 
tradition  is  that  it  begets  presumption  in  the  heart  and 
mind  of  the  faithful,  who  are  in  danger  of  attaching  undue 
importance  to  what,  after  all,  is  only  a  form  of  devotion. 
It  will  be  convenient  to  speak  separately  of  the  promise 
attached  to  the  Scapular,  and  the  Sabbatine  promise.  The 
objection  brought  forward  to  the  former  is  of  very  old 
standing,  since  Sibert  de  Beka  at  the  beginning  of  the  four- 
teenth century  had  already  inserted  a  clause  into  the  words 
of  Our  Lady  :  '  Whosoever  dies  in  it,  if  only  he  is  worthy, 
shall  not  suffer  eternal  fire.'  Other  authors  have  thought 
best  to  make  the  promise  dependent  upon  a  pious  death  : 
'  Whosoever  dies  piously.'  This  version  has  received  the 
approbation  of  the  Church  in  the  lessons  for  the  feast  of 
Our  Lady  of  Mount  Carmel,  and  Theodor  Stratius,  General 
of  the  Caked  Carmelites,  in  a  circular  of  about  the  year 
1640,  forbade  the  members  of  his  Order  to  speak  and  preach 
of  the  scapular  without  some  such  explanation. 

In  our  humble  ouinion  all  this  does  violence  to  the  words 


348 


THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


For  such  a  truism  we  require  no  special  revelation.  We 
take  the  promise  in  its  literal  sense,  and  maintain  that  no 
one  who  dies  with  the  scapular  shall  be  lost.  Since  all 
those  and  only  those  who  die  in  a  state  of  grace  go 
to  heaven,  the  question  naturally  arises :  How  does 
the  scapular  help  those  who  have  not  been  in  the 
state  of  grace  to  become  reconciled  with  God  ere  it  be  too 
late  ?  The  answer  is,  that  Our  Lady  will  obtain  for  them 
the  grace  of  perfect  contrition,  or  of  the  reception  of  the 
sacraments.  And  since  God  does  not  bestow  so  great  a 
grace  without  at  least  some  co-operation  on  the  part  of 
the  sinner,  a  further  question  arises  :  Is  the  wearing  of  the 
scapular  adequate  to  this  end  ?  We  think  it  is.  It  is  a 
devotion  ;  probably  the  easiest  devotion,  but  still  a  devo- 
tion, and  consequently  not  without  a  supernatural  element. 
It  therefore  requires  an  actual  grace  with  tiie  voluntary 
co-operation  of  the  sianer,  and  then  the  door  is  open  for 
sanctifying  grace,  and  all  the  more  widely  the  more  numerous 
the  impulses  of  actual  grace  given. 

We  are  told  that  there  is  danger  that  people  while 
relying  upon  the  scapular  will  neglect  their  religious  duties 
during  life,  and  trust  that  in  the  end  everything  will  be 
all  right.  For  our  part  we  do  not  believe  that  Catholics 
are  really  so  ignorant  of  the  elements  of  their  catechism. 
Our  own  experience  in  the  confessional,  and  by  the  bedside 
of  the  sick  and  dying,  tells  a  different  tale  ;  neither  have  we 
ever  heard  of  a  case  of  such  gross  superstition.  Should 
there  have  been  such  cases  of  presumption,  it  must  be 
admitted  that  there  have  also  been  cases  of  presumptuous 
trust  in  the  last  sacraments.  The  scapular  may  break,  or 
be  lost,  or  laid  aside  ;  the  priest  may  not  come  in  time 
before  the  dying  man  loses  consciousness  ;  these  accidents 
are  subject  to  Divine  permission  and  prove  with  equal 
force  that  God  will  not  be  mocked.  We  have  frequently 
been  in  a  position  of  studying  the  downward  road  of  a 
soul,  when  sin,  especially  of  a  certain  kind,  becomes  habi- 
tual ;  the  sacraments  are  neglected,  the  precepts  of  the 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  SCAPULAR 


349 


the  scapular.  But  sooner  or  later  even  this  is  put  aside, 
either  because  it  has  become  unfit  to  wear,  or  through  a 
natural  (or  supernatural)  aversion  of  the  sinner  to  any- 
thing connected  with  the  Immaculate  Virgin.  This  last 
step  marks  the  vanishing  of  twilight  and  the  beginning  of 
the  darkness  of  night. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  frequently  happens  that  a  sinner, 
after  years  spent  in  the  mire  of  vice,  begins  to  be  ashamed 
of  himself,  and  though  perhaps  he  may  not  have  at  once 
the  grace  of  receiving  the  sacraments,  he  resumes  some 
little  devotion,  as  saying  from  time  to  time  a  Hail  Mary, 
or,  as  most  commonly  happens,  resuming  the  long  neglected 
scapular.    It  is  the  very  least  thing  he  can  do,  but  by 
doing  it  he  already  emerges  from  the  lowest  level,  and 
commences  the  ascent  to  something  better.    His  progress 
may  be  distressingly  slow,  but  still  there  is  some  progress 
and  he  is  fairly  on  the  road  to  the  state  of  grace.  Such 
cases  are  by  no  means  isolated.    When  the  apparently 
hardened  sinner  in  reply  to  remonstrance,  stammers  :  '  But 
I  wear  the  scapular,'  he  does  not  mean  that  he  thinks 
himself  saved  thereby,  but  that  he  is  not  so  entirely  im- 
mersed in  sin  as  to  be,  so  to  say,  beyond  the  reach  of  grace. 
Such  has  been  our  experience  in  hundreds  of  cases,  whereas 
we  have  never  heard  of  an  instance  of  blind  trust  in  the 
mechanical  power  of  the  scapular  as  though  it  were  a  talis- 
man.   Moreover,  every  treatise  on  this  devotion  is  full  of 
examples  of  persons  who,  after  a  notoriously  bad  life, 
made  also  a  bad  death,  but  only  after  having  violently 
torn  off  and  flung  away  the  scapular. 

As  to  the  Sabbatine  promise,  we  have  already  expressed 
our  conviction  that  the  words  of  Our  Lady  really  were  : 
'  I  shall  descend  into  VuxgdXory  suhito ,  at  once  (not  Snhhato), 
after  their  death.'  There  is  not  the  same  measure  of  time 
in  the  other  world  as  in  ours.  Even  if  that  were  so,  we 
know  that  a  soul  having  a  long  account  to  settle,  may  make 
up  for  the  greater  brevity  of  time  by  increased  intensity 
of  sufferiner,  as  has  been  beautifullv  broueht  out  bv  Cardinal 


350  THE  IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


lessen  the  solemnity  of  the  doctrine  of  Purgatory.  The 
faithful  practice  of  the  virtue  of  chastity  in  thought,  word, 
and  deed,  according  to  the  state  of  life,  is  not  so  universal 
a  habit  as  to  be  a  matter  of  little  moment.  The  recitation 
of  the  Divine  Office  the  obligation  of  keeping  the  fasts 
of  the  Church,  even  when  there  would  otherwise  be  a  legi- 
timate reason  for  dispensation  ;  the  abstinence  on  Wednes- 
days and  Saturdays  besides  the  Fridays  not  merely  for  a 
short  period,  but  as  a  lifelong  practice  ;  all  this  is  certainly 
worthy  of  an  indulgence  of  very  considerable  extent. 

Just  as  a  forger  at  the  end  of  the  lifteenth  century 
would  have  been  at  pains  to  give  the  alleged  Bull  a  wording 
more  in  harmony  with  ecclesiastical  style,  so  would  he  un- 
doubtedly have  made  the  promise  dependent  upon  easier 
conditions.  This  is  one  more  reason,  and  surely  not  the 
least,  why  we  should  unhesitatingly  admit  the  full  claim 
of  the  Bull.  "  . 

CONCLUSION 

In  writing  these  articles  we  have  set  ourself  the  task  of 
dealing  with  the  question  from  a  purely  historical  point  of 
view.  Having  no  reliable  history  of  the  Order  to  refer 
our  readers  to,  we  were  sometimes  obliged  to  give  promin- 
ence to  facts  or  theories  which  concern  our  subject  only  in 
a  secondary  way.  But  we  have  set  aside  all  these  con- 
siderations which  belong  rather  to  the  domain  of  ascetics, 
such  as  the  many  advantages  to  be  derived  from  this  devo- 
tion, contenting  ourself  with  those  things  that  are  apt  to 
throw  some  light  upon  the  matter.  Whether  or  not  we 
have  succeeded  in  elucidating  so  obscure  a  question,  we 
must  leave  to  the  judgment  of  our  readers.  We  have  made 
no  secret  of  the  weak  points  of  our  history — some  may  even 
think  that  we  have  dwelt  too  much  upon  them. 

For  the  sake  of  clearness  it  may  be  useful  to  sum  up  the 
various  points  we  have  tried  to  establish : — 

I.  The  Carmelites  entered  England  in  1241  and  after 
the  approbation  and  partial  mitigation  of  their  rule  in 


r  If  J 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  SCAPULAR  351 


1247,  began  to  spread  rapidly.  After  1256  they  met  with 
opposition  on  the  part  of  the  secular  clergy  whereby  many 
friars  were  discouraged,  while  others,  frightened  by  the 
austerity  of  the  rule,  sought  to  shake  off  its  yoke. 

2.  Having  exhausted  ordinary  means,  St.  Simon  Stock 
was  favoured  with  an  apparition  of  the  Blessed  Virgin, 
who  promised  success  to  a  deputation  to  the  Pope  and,  in 
order  to  encourage  the  wavering  members  of  the  Order,  and 
to  raise  its  prestige,  assured  eternal  salvation  to  those  who 
live  and  die  in  the  habit. 

3.  A  miraculous  event  taught  St.  Simon  Stock  that  this 
promise  held  good,  not  alone  in  the  case  of  those  who  wear 
the  habit  on  account  of  their  religious  profession,  but  also 
of  those  who  don  it  through  devotion. 

4.  The  Pope  powerfully  protected  the  Order  which  spread 
with  astonishing  rapidity,  numerous  grandees  donning  the 
habit. 

5.  The  substitution  of  the  scapular  for  the  full  habit 
was  due  to  the  manner  in  which  the  habit  was  blessed  and 
handed  to  the  recipient  at  the  ceremony  of  profession. 

6.  The  Confraternity  of  the  Scapular  has  grown  out  of , the 
institution  of  the  confratres  attached  to  the  various  convents, 
who  were  granted  a  participation  in  the  merits  and  good 
works  of  the  religious. 

7.  The  feast  of  Our  Lady  of  Mount  Carmel  was  insti- 
tuted in  thanksgiving  for  certain  graces  not  directly  con- 
nected with  the  scapular,  but  in  its  oldest  form  it  bore 
officially  the  name  :  Feast  of  the  Confratres. 

8.  The  so-called  Sabbatine  BuU  cannot  with  certainty 
be  traced  further  back  than  the  year  1480,  but  interior 
evidence,  in  the  absence  of  external  proofs,  is  in  favour 
of  the  promise  having  really  been  made  by  Our  Lady  to 
Pope  John  XXIL  The  promise  appears  to  insure  not 
so  much  release  from  Purgatory  on  the  first  Saturday 
following  death,  but  rather  a  most  speedy  release. 

9.  There  is  nothing  either  in  the  scapular  devotion  or 
in  the  Sabbatine  promise,  that  is  not  strictly  in  harmony 


[   352  ] 


THEOLOGY 


JUBILEE  OF  THE  IMMACULATE  CONCEPTION 

The  Encyclical  Letter  of  His  Holiness,  Pius  X.,  promulgat- 
ing a  Jubilee  in  honour  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  of 
the  Blessed  Virgin,  will  be  found  amongst  the  documents  of 
the  present  number  of  the  L  E.  Record.  Many  questions 
which  have  reference  to  the  present  Jubilee  as  well  as  to 
the  Jubilee  of  the  Holy  Year  were  discussed  at  length  by 
Dr.  Mannix  in  the  L  E.  Record  of  March,  April,  and  May, 
1901.  We  may  specially  mention  questions  concerning  the 
intention.  Confession,  and  Communion,  which  are  necessary 
for  gaining  the  indulgence  of  the  Jubilee.  We  refer  our 
readers  to  Dr.  Mannix's  articles  for  a  detail'^d  discussion 
on  these  points.  In  the  present  number  of  the  I.  E. 
Record  it  will  be  useful  to  note  some  points  which  specially 
regard  this  Jubilee. 

1.  The  Jubilee  will  last  for  three  months,  not  necessarily 
continuous,  to  be  definitely  fixed  by  the  Ordinary  for 
each  diocese,  to  be  completed  before  the  8th  December, 
1904.  No  individual  can  forestall  the  Ordinary  with 
regard  to  the  time  during  which  the  Jubilee  can  be 
gained.  The  Jubilee  Confession  and  Communion,  however, 
can  be  made  in  a  diocese  wliere  the  Jubilee  has  not  yet  been 
promulgated  or  has  ceased,  by  the  inhabitants  of  a  diocese 
where  the  Jubilee  has  been  promulgated  and  has  not  ceased. 
Moreover,  the  prescribed  works  can  be  performed  by 
peregnni  in  a  diocese  where  the  Jubilee  is  open,  although  it 
has  not  yet  been  promulgated  or  has  ceased  in  their  own 
dioceses.  Vagi  can  perform  the  prescribed  works  in  any 
place  where  the  Jubilee  is  open. 

2.  Special  facilities  are  allowed  to  travellers — navigantes 
atquc  iter  agentcs — by  means  of  which  they,  immediately 
on  their  return  home,  can  gain  the  Jubilee  by  performing 


NOTES  AND  QUERIES  353 

3.  The  present  Jubilee  can  be  gained  only  once,  and  can 
be  applied  to  the  souls  in  Purgatory. 

4.  The  prescribed  works  are  Confession,  Communion, 
fast,  visits  to  churches,  and  prayers  for  specified  intentions  of 
the  Pope.    Actually  approved  confessors  have  received 
power  to  commute  the  prescribed  works  in  case  of  necessity 
for  other  pious  works  of  equal  value.    They  can  dispense 
with  Communion  in  the    case  of   those  who  will  not 
receive  their  first  Communion  before  the  close  of  the 
Jubilee.    Two  questions  of  importance  arise  in  connection 
with  this  power  of  commutation    and  dispensation  : — 
(a)  Can    confessors    exercise    this   power    outside  the 
Confessional  ?    Benedict  XIV.  laid  down  in  the  Constitu- 
tion Inter  Praeteritos,  §  63,  that  confessors  cannot  use  their 
special  faculties  outside  the   Confessional.    The  rules  of 
Benedict  hold   for  other  Jubilees,    unless  in  so  far  as 
they   are  revoked.^    Now,  no  general  revocation  in  this 
particular  matter   has   taken   place.      In    the  Jubilee 
of  1865  confessors  were  allowed  to  comxmute  the  pre- 
scribed works  outside  Confession,  but  in  the  Jubilee  of 
1886  this  power  was  refused  to  confessors.    In  the  Ency- 
clical Letter  of  the  present  Jubilee  there  is  no  mention  of 
power  to  commute  the  prescribed  works  outside  Confession. 
Until,  then,  special  permission  be  given  by  the  Roman 
Congregations — and,  so  far  as  we  know,  it  has  not  yet  been 
given — confessors  cannot  exercise  their  power  of  commutation 
outside  the  Confessional.   What  we  have  here  said  expressly 
about  the  power  of  commuting  the  prescribed  works  holds 
equally  with  reference  to  the  other  special  faculties  granted 
to  confessors  by  the  Jubilee  Encyclical,    (b)  Can  actually 
approved  confessors  commute  all  the  prescribed  works  ? 
They  can  certainly  commute  the  visits  and  the  fast,  and 
can  dispense  from  Communion  those  who  will  not  receive 
their  first  Communion   before  the  end  of  the  Jubilee. 
There  is  special  difficulty,  however,  with  regard  to  Confession, 
Communion,  and  the  prescribed  prayers.     Benedict  XIV. 


354  THE   IRISH  ECCLESIASTICAL  RECORD 


confessors  have  not  the  power  of  commuting  Confession,  Com- 
munion, and  the  prescribed  prayers  which  are  separable 
from  the  visits.  The  rules  of  this  Constitution  remain  in 
force  until  they  are  revoked.  No  general  revocation  has 
yet  been  made  with  regard  to  commutation  of  Confession, 
Communion,  or  the  prescribed  prayers.  Neither  does  the 
Encyclical  give  any  indication  of  such  a  revocation  for  the 
present  Jubilee.  So  we  are  compelled  to  hold  that 
confessors  cannot  commute  these  works.  There  are  some 
theologians,  however,  who  maintain  that  power  is  now 
given  to  make  this  commutation.  Bonquillon  held  this 
view  in  his  commentary  on  the  Jubilee  of  1886.  The  safest 
course  to  adopt  in  practice  is  to  abstain  from  attempting 
to  make  a  commutation  of  Confession,  Communion,  and 
the  prayers  as  long  as  they  can  possibly  be  performed.  If 
it  be  quite  impossible  to  perform  any  of  them  a  confessor 
may  commute  them  in  quantum  possit. 

5.  Other  indulgences  are  not  suspended  during  the  time 
of  the  present  Jubilee. 

6.  Visits. — (a)  Three  devotional  visits  to  a  church  are 
necessary  for  gaining  the  present  Jubilee.  The  three  visits 
need  not  be  made  on  the  same  day.-  It  is  not  necessary 
to  make  them  in  the  same  church,  or  in  the  same  parish, 
or  even  in  the  same  diocese.  They  can  be  made  wholly 
or  partially  in  any  church  where  the  Jubilee  is  open.^ 
(&)  The  churches  to  be  visited  are  the  cathedral  church  if 
there  be  one  in  the  place,  the  parochial  church  if  there 
be  no  cathedral  church  in  the  place,  or  the  principal  church 
if  there  be  no  parochial  church  in  the  place,  (c)  Under 
the  designation  of  '  principal  church '  may  be  included 
oratories  which  are  open  to  the  public  if  Mass  be  usually 
said  there.*  Chapels  of  colleges,  monasteries,  and 
convents,  which  are  not  open  to  the  public,  cannot  serve 
for  the  Jubilee  visits  of  the  faithful.  It  is  certain,  too, 
that  such  chapels  will  not  serve  for  the  Jubilee  visits  of 
those  who  belong  to  those  colleges,  monasteries,  and 
convents.  Hence,  those  who  live  in  colleges,  etc.,  the  chapels 


NOTES  AND  QUERIES 


355 


of  which  are  not  open  to  the  pubhc,  must  make  their  Jubilee 
visits  to  the  cathedral,  parochial,  or  principal  churches. 
If  they  are  prevented  by  rule  from  going  to  these  churches 
they  must  obtain  a  commutation  of  their  visits  from  their 
confessors.  The  most  suitable  works  which  confessors  can 
substitute  are  visits  to  their  private  chapels,  (d)  Regulars 
cannot  make  their  Jubilee  visits  to  their  own  churches  unless 
in  those  cases  where  their  churches  come  under  the  title 
'  parochial  or  principal  churches.'  They  must  make 
their  visits  to  the  churches  which  the  ordinary  faithful  of 
the  place  must  visit,  (e)  What  is  meant  by  a  '  place  ' 
when  the  Encyclical  Letter  speaks  of  cathedral,  parochial, 
or  principal  church